Anonymous donor offers $10M to save N.S. church facing demolition. But there's a condition - Action News
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Nova Scotia

Anonymous donor offers $10M to save N.S. church facing demolition. But there's a condition

A group rallying to save glise Sainte-Marie in Church Point, N.S., says its prayers may have been answered. Pierre Comeau, the president of Socit difice Sainte-Marie de La Pointe, says an anonymous donor is offering to cover $10 million worth of repairs and ongoing maintenance for the iconic structure.

Local group spent nearly a decade trying to save glise Sainte-Marie in Digby County

Tall wooden church
glise Sainte-Marie in Church Point, N.S., has significant water damage. (Kassandra Nadeau-Lamarche/CBC)

A group rallying to save glise Sainte-Marie in Church Point, N.S., says its prayers may have been answered.

Pierre Comeau, the president of Socit difice Sainte-Marie de La Pointe, says an anonymous donor is offering to cover $10 million worth of repairs and ongoing maintenance for the iconic structure.

But there is a condition. It must be an active church, something it hasn't been since 2019.

"It's a fabulous offer, and the group that we're with, we're tickled pink," said Comeau.

He said he cannot share any information about the donor other than the cause is very important to the person.

Worshippers are shown inside the church when it was still fit for people to go inside prior to Christmas 2019.
The church has not been used for worship since 2019. (Richard Landry)
Pierre Comeau, the president of the Socit difice Sainte-Marie De La Pointe.
Pierre Comeau is the president of Socit difice Sainte-Marie de La Pointe. (Kassandra Nadeau-Lamarche/CBC)

The society has been trying to raise the funds needed to fix the building for the last nine years, asking the community and all three levels of government to save thestructure.

"What we were trying to do was slightly different than what has happened," said Comeau.

"What we were trying to do was to save it as a structure and a monument to our ancestors whose ingenuity and perseverance have built this magnificent structure. But it would not have been a church."

But they couldn't raise enough money.It was determined a few months ago that the building had to be sold or demolished.

The church was built in the early 1900s and now has significant water damage.

Public meeting

Comeau said the society will have a public meeting next weekend at the Saint-Alphonse Church to discuss the future ofglise Sainte-Marie.

Comeau said if the building becomes an active church again there would be a surplus of churches in the area.

"Some others may no longer be kept as active churches," he said, adding there are details to be worked out later.

Comeau said he and the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth are in the process of finalizing an agreement with the potential donor. He hopes restoration work could begin this summer.

For now, the group needs to determine the cost of repairs and speak to parishioners, he said.

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