Moving forward

AMHERST - The move towards a new home for Holy Family Parish took a bold step forward Monday with the demolition of a century-old piece of Amherst history.

"It's a sad day and sort of a traumatic one, but one that we knew was coming," Father Vernon Driscoll said of the demolition. "It has to be balanced with the fact we are trying to move on and in order to re-establish facility other facilities have to be removed. It's painful, but you have to do what you have to do to move forward."

With the $1-million capital campaign surpassing the $700,000 mark recently, the design for the new 12,000-square foot church is awaiting approval by the archdiocese in Halifax. Once that is granted in November, construction will begin on the new $1.6-million church with the sacrament of mass being performed there for the first time some time in 2009.

"It's a big step, the first of many. It shows signs that we are moving forward," campaign co-chair Vince Byrne said as he watched the northeast wall of the rectory tumble down under the weight of an excavator.

Byrne said the capital campaign has slowed in the last month or so, but with demolition he's hoping it will pick up again with the goal being surpassed sooner rather than later.

"There were a lot of people waiting to see if we are going ahead, this shows that we are," Bynre said, adding that while active campaigning has ended donations are still being accepted at the parish office's temporary home in the Furlong-Jones Funeral Home.

The decision to merge Amherst's two Roman Catholic parishes into one and move forward with construction with a new church has not been well received with all parishioners - some of whom watched with dismay as the rectory was demolished.

Shifting trends in population have led to a smaller congregation while time has been hard on the existing church, that is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to heat.

"The inefficiencies of an aging building were leading to increasingly costly bills and significant maintenance issues that could not be ignored," co-chair Dr. Celina White said. "The design we have chosen is modern, efficient and in the best financial interests of the parish."

Still, some hard feelings do remain.

"This didn't have to happen, it shouldn't have happened," one unidentified parishioner said. "They didn't have to do this."

The demolition drew several dozen spectators, many of them members of the parish.

"It's a bit of a sad thing, I've been going to Holy Family for 26 years," Jillian Chappell said. "It's a big change to see it come down. It's emotional for sure."

Jack Bristol remembers going to St. Charles as a boy and never thought he'd see the day the rectory was removed.

"I'm 70 years old and I remember so well the old Catholic school. It's gone and now the rectory's gone. Soon the church will be gone. It's going to take some getting used to," Bristol said, adding he understands why the church is being replaced.

dcole@amherstdaily.com