Jim Barry: The story behind today’s St. Joseph Preservation Society

To The Daily Sun,

The St. Joseph Preservation Society was formed with one primary goal: to save St. Joseph’s Church from demolition by the Diocese of Manchester.

Today, we are proud to say that we accomplished that goal.

Beginning in 2019, a small group of trustees worked for years to find a way to preserve this historic building. We raised approximately $450,000, helping demonstrate our commitment and resulting in the withdrawal of the demolition application. We also worked to secure historic-preservation recognition for the church and surrounding area.

But saving the building was only the beginning. We wanted to find a meaningful and financially sustainable future for St. Joseph’s.

After extensive research, meetings and discussions with the Diocese, we developed a proposal to convert the church into a columbarium containing approximately 2,000 niches while preserving the historic character of the building. We believed this could provide families with a beautiful, dignified and protected place to memorialize their loved ones while creating a financially sustainable future for the property.

We invested our own resources in professional fundraising and feasibility studies and developed financial projections showing how the project could potentially provide the funds necessary to restore the building while creating a long-term source of revenue.

Despite our efforts, the Diocese has now decided to list the church for sale.

While we are disappointed, we do not consider our efforts a failure. The church is still standing — and that was our original mission.

The Preservation Society remains committed to seeing St. Joseph’s given a future that respects its history and benefits the community.

We have documented the complete story, including our proposals, efforts and vision for the future, on our website. For more information, please visit SaveStJoes.org.

We saved the church. Now we hope someone will help save its future.

James J. Barry

Gilford