St. Joseph Church preservation group sets $1.5m fundraising goal

LACONIA — An organization formed to preserve St. Joseph Church is hoping to raise $1.5 million to make repairs and provide funds for future maintenance of the historic structure.

It has also submitted a plan for the future use of the 93-year-old church.

The plan presented to Bishop Peter Libasci would turn over the management and potentially the control of the building to the St. Joseph Preservation Society of Laconia. The goal of the nonprofit organization is to oversee the restoration and care of the church in the hope that it can remain a Catholic chapel, open for private prayer and used for occasional religious services.

The society submitted its plan in April, but has so far not received any response, said Karen Sullivan, vice president of the preservation group. The delay is making organizers of the preservation effort anxious, she said Thursday.

The Rev. Marc Drouin, pastor of St. Andre Bessette Parish, which oversees the St. Joseph building, said Friday an evaluation of the needed repairs along with cost estimates to do the work need to be made before the bishop will be in any position to respond to the preservation group’s proposal.

Drouin said he asked a firm several weeks ago to do the evaluation, but the backlog that many building and construction firms are experiencing at this time means that they are booked out several weeks in advance.

He said once the evaluation is complete the plan is to submit that report to general contractor Bonnette, Page & Stone which will then prepare a report itemizing the range of costs to complete the work.

The parish spent about $500,000 in repairs to the building prior to the decision in 2019 to close the church.

Regular services have not been held in the church for more than a year. However, during COVID the church was used as an additional Mass site for Christmas and Easter Masses when church attendance is greater, Drouin said. The church was open for private prayer until this past March when it was closed after mold was discovered in two locations.

“We closed in an abundance of caution,” Drouin said.

The preservation group was formed in 2019 in an effort to save the building and has been negotiating with the diocese since that time, the group said.

In 2020 the building was included in the Seven to Save list of buildings of historic significance across the state with a high priority to be preserved.

The church is the one example of Gothic Revival architecture in the city. It was designed by a Boston architect who was a protege of noted American architect Ralph Adams Cram who designed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

“The St. Joseph Church Preservation Society of Laconia has stated to St. Andre Bessette Parish and the Diocese of Manchester that it is prepared to assume responsibility for all of the costs associated with the restoration of St. Joseph Church and also those costs associated with the church’s continued maintenance going forward,” the group said in a release sent to The Daily Sun.

The group said an agreement with the bishop and the diocese is critical to its ability to move forward with its plans.

Those interested in making a contribution to save the church can visit savestjoes.org, or mail a check to St. Joseph Church Preservation Society of Laconia, P.O. Box 145, Laconia, NH 03247-0145.