Former St. Alphonsus Church in Cape Breton needs $5K more to save structure

A community effort to save a historic stone church in Cape Breton needs to raise another $5,000 to rescue the building from demolition.

Melanie Sampson, the volunteer president of the Stone Church Restoration Society, said the years-long bid to rescue the former St. Alphonsus Church in Victoria Mines, N.S., is almost done.

The community group agreed to pay the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish $40,000 in four installments this year. They made the first three on the strength of fundraisers and donations from across Canada. Locals have held dinners and dances, and an 85-year-old woman knitted an afghan to help the cause.

"I think it's wonderful," Sampson said Sunday. "It's really a story of David and Goliath, how we've been able to get this far, and we're so close to ownership."

• St. Alphonsus Church deal inked with diocese for stone church purchase

• St. Alphonsus Church sale comes as a shock to community group

Local newspaper steps up

The last $10,000 was due at the end of July, but they're getting a little extra time to close the gap. They got a big piece of that from the O'Quinn family, who gave them a cheque for $1,000 on Saturday.

The family runs the New Waterford Community Press and has helped the church group by running a weekly update on the project, full-page ads and helping to host a concert. Sampson said most of the money raised has come from small donations in a "Canadian community effort."

The group plans to turn the former St. Alphonsus Church into a non-denominational wedding chapel and tourist attraction. In fact it randomly hosted its first wedding this weekend.

Sampson said there is some resentment in the community that the diocese turned down their initial offer to buy it for $1 to save it.

"They couldn't [sell it for $1] because of the divestiture clause for the sexual abuse lawsuit," she said. "They have to sell their property at a fair market value."

The diocese first asked for $49,000, but agreed to take $40,000.

That meant the steep challenge to raise $10,000 four times in one year in Cape Breton, "which is very hard for a non-profit society."

Built by poor coal miners

The community also paid for most of the original stone church in the early 1900s. Much of it came from poor coal miners.

"There was a fee for the church that came right off their paycheques. I spoke to an older gentleman — he said his family nearly froze to death many winters because of the amount of money that came directly off his paycheque to go to this church," said Sampson, who went to the church from 1990 to its closure about seven years ago.

The stone church was built to replace a wood church that burned down. It includes a monument for the 65 men who died in a 1917 New Waterford mining disaster. Six of the lost were parishioners.

The two towers that give the little church its big feel turned up some fascinating local history involving a rum-runner moved by the spirit to save the church the first time around. 

How a rum-runner helped build the church

Sampson knew one of the towers was called the Shanahan Memorial Tower and was named for a Mrs. Shanahan.

"I often wondered what would a woman have done in the early 1900s to be able to have her name put onto a tower?"

So Sampson started researching. She spoke to the lady's family, who vaguely said Mrs. Shanahan worked in "importing" and was quite wealthy. When the wood church burned down, she agreed to match fundraising dollar for dollar — so long as it was made from stone to prevent another fire.

"I asked them what she was into importing, and here she was the local rum-runner. When she died, she left $35,000 to the community," Sampson said.

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The second tower, the Victoria Mines Pilots Tower, was funded by the Marine Pilots Association. Sailors then and now use the church tower as a navigation beacon.

The church played a crucial role for the community during the Second World War, when the harbour filled with ships bound for Europe. The community invited the sailors and soldiers to a movie night in the church on Saturdays and after Sunday service they organized ball games between locals and the young men heading off to war.

The converted church will join several ex-sanctuaries in Nova Scotia who have found a new purpose:

• Kentville creating a heaven for book lovers in converted church

• All Saints Anglican Church resurrected in Louisiana

• N.S. church floats on water toward winery

• Sydney's St. Andrews Church reborn as theatre

• St. Antonio's raises domes to new church roof