Nova Scotia, April 2011
CBC News reports that St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Maryvale, Nova Scotia had been burned down.
Firefighters responded to the call at roughly 3 a.m. that the church was on fire. When they arrived, most of the church was up in flames with little to save. Excavators had knocked down the remains.
Bernie Falkenham who is with the North Shore Volunteer Fire Department stated to the CBC that the church was a loss.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Thankfully the church was insured and parishioners say that they want to rebuild it.
Update:
The CBC News reports that only 5 months later, the parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic Church have raised an even $110,000 to start the rebuilding of the church.
There were pledges from 150 people offering their money and support to rebuild their church. One man, Ron MacGillivary who is the head of the building committee states that the concrete flooring had been poured and next up are the walls.
He also explained to the CBC that even though the church had been insured, there was no guarantee that the church would have been rebuilt.
MacGillivary also noted that there had been a trend in buildings that were burned down not being built again, and with the Archdiocese’s approval they could move forward.
The target of money raised was $160,000. With only $50,000 more to go, another parishioner, Donna O’Brien led the fundraising to close the gap.
The parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic Church hope to be celebrating their services again by Christmas time.