Weddings, concerts planned for former St. Alphonsus stone church, say owners

A former churchin Cape Breton is finally in the hands of a local group that plans to restore it as a tourist destination and wedding venue.

St.Alphonsus sits high on a hill in Victoria Mines overlooking Sydney harbour. It was built in 1916 butwas closed as a church by the Diocese of Antigonish in 2007.

The diocese hadplanned to demolish the church when a community group was formed to purchase and restore it.

The Stone Church Restoration Society raised $40,000to buy the building from the diocese and now owns the property.

The next step is to raise several hundred thousand dollars for repairs and restoration.

"There's a lot of damage to the bell tower where it had been leaking for so many years," society chairwoman Melanie Sampson said. "We have a lot of debris on the floor here, a lot of cracks and crevices that need to be filled. We'll have to bring in engineers and see what needs to be done."

A portionof the building will become a museum.

"Because we want to preserve the history of it, and then we can host events here," Sampson said. "We've been approached by musicians who want to use it as a recording site as well as having it for concerts."

It is also slated to be used asa non-denominational wedding chapel.

Sampson said St Alphonsus has seen some dramatic moments in its long history, one involving former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

"It was even struck by lightning during Dave Dingwall's father's funeral here, with all the politicians and the prime minister in here. Everybody scrambled."

Longtime church caretaker Martin MacKinnon, 92, says saving the church from the wrecking ball was important.

"We were the people who kept this church going for years and years and years," he said. "It's an eye-catching building. I want people to know that this building is still standing, thanks to the good work of Melanie and her committee, and in time it will prove itself and people will enjoy this building once again."

Sampson said the site already draws many visitors.

"If we could just charge a dollar for every car that drove uphere we wouldn't have to worry about it. There is that many people that come up here just to take pictures. The scenery here is breathtaking you can see right down to Cape Smokey on a clear day."

The group, which continues to raise money for the restoration, will host a community celebration this summer on the 103rd anniversary of the church, she said.