Diocese halts restoration of St. Joseph Church, property to be sold

LACONIA — The Diocese of Manchester, the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire, announced Thursday their intention to scrap plans to restoring St. Joseph Church downtown, and instead to place it on the market for sale. 

The decision, Bishop of Manchester Peter Libasci wrote in a media release, was taken after consideration that continuing the project without assurance, nor hope, the proposed repairs and renovations could succeed would be “an irresponsible use of the faithful’s resources entrusted to us.”

“We must remember that Church buildings, structures, or worship sites are meant to house and reflect a living and thriving community of the baptized living the Faith and handing on that Faith authentically and fervently to succeeding generations,” Libasci wrote in a release. “That vitality, in this particular case, has waned and diminished to a point of no return; even these well-meaning hopes and efforts have proven so.”

The decision was unexpected and represents a near-complete turnaround from the church’s stated plans for the property, located along Church Street. 

“The Saint Joseph Church Preservation Society is deeply disappointed to learn that the Diocese of Manchester has decided to discontinue joint restoration and preservation efforts for Saint Joseph Church and instead intends to list the historic church property for sale,” Linda Normandin, president of the St. Joseph Church Preservation Society, wrote in a release. 

It was a dedicated group of parishioners who worked for years to change the diocese’s intentions, which just one year ago seemed doomed for destruction. The Diocese of Manchester had even applied for a demolition permit from the City of Laconia for the 1929 structure, then sell it to a developer. 

“It’s a prominent building in the downtown,” Normandin said Friday. “The history of the church itself and how the community, the people, invested in this years ago. It would just be such a shame to see it removed.” 

But late in January this year, the Diocese reversed course: the church would be spared, thanks in large part to the work of those parishioners — the Saint Joseph Preservation Society — and would be repurposed as both a chapel and columbarium, a place for the deposit of cremated remains. 

In 2017, St. Andre Bessette Parish began consolidating their activities to the Sacred Heart Campus at the intersection of Union and Gilford avenues. In 2019, a plan was revealed to demolish St. Joseph Church and to sell that lot, which also contains the adjacent Holy Trinity School building and the Busiel Mansion.

After a period of public outcry, the plan changed — the lot would be divided. The Holy Trinity School building is now an apartment complex and the Busiel Mansion was sold privately. At the end of January, the diocese said they’d abandon their plan to demolish St. Joseph, and instead move forward in an attempt to fundraise $2 million needed for renovations and repairs.

St. Joseph Church is now part of the city’s Historic District, affording its historic and spiritual character legal protection. 

“We worked very hard to get that,” Normandin said. 

The preservation society was tasked with raising those funds. They’d already achieved $1 million in pledged donations, and had collected nearly $460,000 cash-in-hand. All of that occurred before a capital campaign and fundraising effort kicked off in earnest.

“Even before the campaign officially began, community members had pledged approximately $1 million toward the $2.5 million restoration goal — clear evidence of the deep devotion that Lakes Region residents and former parishioners continue to hold for Saint Joseph Church,” Normandin wrote in the preservation society's release. 

“The Diocese has expressed concern that the full restoration costs could not be raised within a reasonable timeframe. The SJCPS, however, had been awaiting final cost estimates from the Diocese before formally launching its fundraising campaign and remains confident in the community’s ability to meet the challenge,” the release continues. “While this change of course is disappointing, the SJCPS is proud of what has already been accomplished through community action. Public support previously helped to prevent the church’s demolition and secured its inclusion within Laconia’s Historic District, where its historic and spiritual character now have lasting protection.”

In August, the diocese told the society that they’d have six months to raise the funds, once the fundraising effort materialized. A contract hadn’t been signed, but the society intended to enlist the services of Guidance and Giving for the capital campaign — that firm is the same which conducted a feasibility study referenced by the diocese in their media release.

“The St. Joseph Preservation Society had committed to fundraise for the exterior and interior repair costs, but minimal funds have been contributed to the project to date,” a statement from the diocese reads, in part. “Compounding these circumstances, the results of a feasibility study indicate the amount of available financial support in the community would not be able to cover even the lower threshold of the repair costs. Unfortunately, these factors, in addition to rising construction costs, were insurmountable to overcome.” 

Over the past year, the diocese invested in construction work to preserve the exterior of the building. Repointing mortar, replacing limestone and missing slate shingles, repairing damaged slate shingles and exit doors, resetting granite stones and replacing copper roofing, all in a show of good faith, Libasci noted.

But extensive interior repairs to St. Joseph Church were still required to restore the building, the statement reads. Those had to be completed before the construction of a columbarium could begin. Some of the high-dollar requirements include a new heating and ventilation system, asbestos and mold remediation, the creation of accessible bathrooms, and “extensive plaster repair and painting.”

“The Diocese collaborated with the St. Joseph Preservation Society toward a positive outcome with hope that the project would be feasible,” Libasci wrote. “But due to increased costs and lack of available funding, regrettably, as owner of the property, the Diocese will likely place St. Joseph Church back on the market for sale.”

Monies collected remain secure and will continue to be dedicated solely to the purpose of preserving and restoring St. Joseph Church, according to a statement from SJCPS. Members intend to carefully monitor the potential sale of the property and seek to learn about any buyer’s intentions. They encourage the diocese to seek a buyer “whose use of the property benefits the community and aligns with Catholic social teaching.” 

“The goal post has moved a lot in these six years, every time you turn around the goal post has moved again,” Normandin said. “I don’t believe they ever really wanted us to succeed.”