Updated: Thursday, March 10 at 5:00 p.m.
Despite claims from the catholic archdiocese that Saint Patrick’s Church on Brunswick Street in Halifax is dangerous, the city’s planning department and parishioners say it is safe.
On Tuesday, the financial administrator of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth’s, Peter Browne, told councillors the church is in “very poor condition with danger to people and property.”
The comment was made as part of the archdiocese’s argument against designating it a heritage property. Browne also said the church does not have the $1.5 million needed for repairs to secure the building.
However, council ultimately agreed with a staff report recommending the church get heritage property status – in part because it was supposed to be designated a heritage building in 1982, but a clerical error meant the church’s rectory got the designation instead.
Parishioners weren’t allowed to present to council during the heritage hearing, however, on Wednesday they said the church is safe and they were surprised by the comments made by Browne on Tuesday.
Despite their surprise, there is agreement among the parties that repairs are needed – one example from March 2014 is when part of the granite trim on the front windows, weighing 80 pounds, fell off, but didn’t cause any injuries.
The building is inspected annually by both an engineer and an architect, according to parishioner and church building committee chair Andrew Murphy. He spoke with the architect recently who told Browne there is no “risk of anything falling down right now.”
“It’s safe,” Browne said.
Similarly, the municipality’s urban design program manager, Jacob Ritchie, said his staff don’t have concerns about the safety of the building, and haven’t received any reports suggesting otherwise. He also pointed out the building is still actively used.
“The heritage team and the urban design program doesn’t have immediate structural concerns about this building,” Ritchie said.
The archdiocese declined an interview but says it will be commenting on the issue soon.
Engineering consultants say property unsafe
The Archdiocese say professional engineering consultants have stated that the property is unsafe and confirm that millions of dollars are required to make the building structurally sound and safe for people to gather and worship.
Giving the church building heritage status hinders necessary work being done and does not help in preserving the building.
The Archdiocese says that in coming days the Archbishop will review the financial challenges and future pastoral options for the parish with the pastor, pastoral council, finance council, the parishioners, and the Restoration Society.
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