Preservationists prevail: St. Joseph Church won't be demolished

LACONIA — At one point it appeared nearly inevitable that St. Joseph Church would be toppled with a wrecking ball. Indeed, the Diocese of Manchester had even applied for a demolition permit to take down the 1929 stone church and sell the lot to a developer.

For more than five years, a corps of dedicated parishioners clung to a hope they could divert the diocese, which oversees Catholic activities in New Hampshire and which owns the property.

On the final day of January, the diocese issued a statement which rewarded the St. Joseph Preservation Society for their faith. The church building would be saved, the press release read, to be repurposed as a chapel and columbarium — a place to deposit cremated remains.

That news closes a precarious chapter which began nearly eight years ago. In 2017, the St. Andre Bessette Parish, which includes Laconia, began consolidating its activities onto the Sacred Heart campus, located at the corner of Union and Gilford avenues. Two years later, a plan was announced to demolish St. Joseph and sell the lot that contained the church as well as the adjacent Holy Trinity School building and the historic Busiel Mansion, which was being used as the parish house at the time.

Following an outcry from the community, that plan was amended by dividing the lot into three parcels. Since then, the Holy Trinity building has been converted into residences, and the Busiel Mansion has been sold to a private family.

St. Joseph was still standing, waiting to see whether the diocese would take it down. On Jan. 31, the diocese shared a statement that demolition was no longer part of the plan. Instead, the release read, “The Diocese ... will move forward with a plan to repair and renovate St. Joseph Church” as a columbarium and chapel.

The building is thought to need about $2 million in repairs, money which will be raised by the preservation society. Another $750,000 or so in renovations will be necessary to convert the building to its new uses, which the diocese will fund.

“St. Joseph Church has been an important part of the lives of the faithful in Laconia for generations, and this new use as a columbarium and chapel will continue to serve them for generations to come as a monument to our Catholic belief in the resurrection of the dead and as a place of prayer and reverence for loved ones who have died,” said Peter Libasci, bishop of Manchester, according to the press release.

“I’m so excited, so happy, overjoyed about this,” said Linda Normandin, president of the St. Joseph Preservation Society on Tuesday. “Finally, we have strong forward movement.”

Normandin, along with Tara Shore, Donna Hosmer and others, joined together in 2019 to leverage local passion for the church — built by Irish immigrants and host to weddings, baptisms and funerals for generations of Catholic residents — to attempt the Herculean task of dislodging the diocese from its stated intention. The local group had passion in spades, as well as an abundance of pluck, evident in Normandin’s appeal to the Vatican in 2019 as part of their attempt to stop the wrecking ball.

Over the ensuing years, the preservationists showed they had staying power, continuing to meet with the diocese every few months to try and find a solution. They also showed they were serious, gaining $450,000 in donations — real cash, not just pledges.

Normandin said the biggest hurdle the society has faced in soliciting donations was the demolition application, hanging like an executioner’s axe.

“That was a big stumbling block for a lot of people who wanted to contribute,” Normandin said. “They wanted to make sure their money didn’t go to waste.”

She said the preservation effort is now “full speed ahead,” and a fundraising firm, Guidance in Giving, has been selected to help raise the remainder of the $2 million to repair the building.

Once the necessary work is completed, the building will be open to people who want to visit with the remains of their loved ones, to pray, and, with the diocese’s permission, for other use.

Normandin said any sort of progress the group has made over the past several years has been incremental and tenuous. With the formal rescinding of the demolition application, and a new strategy shared publicly, she said this development feels like a watershed moment.

“Every time we talk about it, it’s so exciting. I can’t express how happy it makes me, and I know it will make the community happy.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect the status of the application to demolish St. Joseph Church, and clarify future use of the structure.