St. Patrick's Church Restoration Society doesn't fear heritage designation

The chair of the St. Patrick's Church reconstruction committee says there is nothing to fear about the recent Halifax municipal council decision to designate the Brunswick Street Catholic church a heritage building.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Halifax and Yarmouth, Anthony Mancini, said last week he was disappointed with the decision.

A diocese representative asked council to vote down the recommendation so emergency repairs could be done — without adhering to heritage standards so costs could be reduced.

Chunks of granite recently fell off the side of the church. Initial reports suggested engineering consultants who inspected the property said the building needed $1.5 million in immediate repairs just to stabilize it. 

But Andrew Murphy, chair of the St. Patrick's Church reconstruction committee, said there is confusion over the cost of the project.

He said the cost of stabilization is far less than the cost of restoration. If $700,000 to $800,000 is needed for the stabilization work, he said that is not an insurmountable amount. Between the society and the parish, Murphy said they already have a third of that raised.

Murphy attended an inspection with two experienced engineers on Wednesday. They went all the way to the top of the bell tower structure and he expects a written report shortly. But Murphy said the engineers indicated it was safe.

No monetary promises

"The senior engineer's comment was he did not expect that steeple would come down any time soon," he said.

Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia has also thrown its support behind St. Patrick's Church Restoration Society, the reconstruction committee's parent organization.

In a release, Heritage Trust vowed to work with the archdiocese, the city and province to "develop a solution to the current uncertainty surrounding the building's future."

Murphy said that support does not include any monetary promises.

"They haven't offered money specifically, but they have given us information on where there is money," he said.

"They have a lot of expertise and experience in dealing with structures like this. With the heritage designation we can access different pools of money that may be out there."

As for the fear the diocese has about the church being designated a heritage building, Murphy said it's a myth that it's a disadvantage to be registered.

"The heritage people don't insist on perfect restorations, they're a very practical bunch and we think it's appropriate that this historic building is designated."