Listing on pause for landmark Nova Scotia church as officials sift through offers

ST. BERNARD, N.S. -

The sale listing for a deconsecrated Roman Catholic church that has been a landmark in the Acadian community in southwestern Nova Scotia has been put on pause.

Suzanne Lefort, a former treasurer of the parish council, says the listing for St. Bernard Church is on hold while church officials sift through offers and questions from interested people.

She didn't say how many offers the diocese of Halifax-Yarmouth received, but she says people have questions about the property that was completed in 1942 and put on sale last week for $250,000.

The listing says St. Bernard Church took 32 years to build and the building's more than 8,000 granite blocks were transported by railroad and oxen to St. Bernard, N.S., about 35 kilometres southwest of Digby, N.S.

St. Bernard closed last summer as the number of parishioners dwindled to as few as 40 people per week in the 1,300-square-metre building.

She says church officials hope to make a final decision this week, adding that as far as she knows all the offers came from within Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.