Volunteers want historic St. Joachim church that sat vacant for decades to get a new purpose

It sat empty for 24 years — and there was a foot and a half of water in the basement — but thanks to a $30,000 donation from an anonymous donor and the hard work of a handful of volunteers, the St. Joachim Church may get a new life.

"This building has been reconstituted purely by volunteers from people here in town," said Paul Mullins, who is spearheading a project to save the historic building.

The church was built in 1890 and was a fixture and a landmark in the small community in Lakeshore until it closed in 2000. The congregation moved to a new church near Comber.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of London, which owns the church, says it has been trying to sell the building but has been unsuccessful despite "some interest."

"We have been in discussions with Paul Mullins about a future plan for the site and for the property to be repurposed," a spokesperson said.

Mullins has put together a handful of volunteers who over the past two months have been ripping up carpeting, tearing down drywall in the basement and building new enclosures over the outside stairs leading to the basement.

Mullins said the lack of those enclosures has led to water flooding the basement and mould building up, but he says engineering inspections over the last few months have confirmed the building is structurally sound and so a complete renovation is possible.

"We're having an appointment at the end of the week with the engineer to come in and re-examine the situation as it stands and recommend how we go forward," said Mullins. "We spent close to $30,000 on getting those reports done, getting a hazardous material report, that kind of basic information that we needed to get a sense as to whether there is any real potential to be able to preserve the building for the long term."

"The first step is to make it safe and to make it secure," he added.

Mullins said once the initial work is complete, they will approach Lakeshore council to see if it will take possession of the building or if it becomes the property of a not-for-profit organization.

"The Diocese of London, who continues to be the owner, they've committed to transfer the property for a dollar to either the town or not-for-profit for the purpose of continuing to have it serve the community in some form or fashion," said Mullins, adding that could be a community centre.

A spokesperson for Lakeshore says the municipality is "open to working with residents and community groups to achieve common goals with solutions that are sustainable and respect the use of taxpayer dollars." The municipality says it hasn't received any formal documents or proposals related to the church, so the spokesperson was unable at this time to provide comment on the group's work or plans.

The prospect of the building once again being a focal point for the community is exciting for former parishioner Karen Belisle.

"And I think it's just going to be amazing for a small town because it was such a big centre. [It] played such an important part in so many lives. And now I think it brings life back to the community and it's a part of our history. So it's huge, just huge," she said.

"I think it's great to see somebody doing something with it," said St. Joachim resident Ben Atkinson. "Instead of tearing it down, they can do something with it."

Mullins hopes the preliminary work can be completed sometime this fall.