St. Alphonsus Church supporters fight to save stone building

Two community groups are continuing their efforts to save a historic church in Cape Breton from demolition, but the groups have different plans for the building.

In February, it was announced the nearly 100-year-old St. Alphonsus Church in Victoria Mines was to be demolished.

As a result of the announcement, two community groups were formed.

The St. Alphonsus Restoration Society had an Oct. 31 deadline to fundraise and make a pitch to the Diocese of Antigonish to purchase the building for community use.

The group is looking for an extension, said member Melanie Sampson.

"That would give them enough time hopefully to find out about the appeal process," she said.

"In that time, we'd just like to make sure they don't tear it down in between and don't sell it to another party if someone else was to come forward."

Another group called the St. Alphonsus Preservation Society was formed this spring with the goal of keeping the church open. It appealed to the Vatican and is awaiting a response.

Group member Fred Milley said the church should never have closed in the first place.

"It's unfortunate, but there are bishops all across the world that are closing churches without a grave reason and we believe that this is one of those cases," he said.

Milley said that appeal could take up to 13 months.

While both groups have different goals, their main concern is to stop the wrecking ball from hitting the church.