Petitcodiac Baptist Church loses its 137-year-old steeple
Members of the Petitcodiac Baptist Church gathered Tuesday to watch the demolition of their church building that dates back to 1879.
In July, an outdoor oil tank sprung a leak, allowing 1,400 litres of heating oil to seep in the ground beneath the 137-year-old building.
Chairman of the trustees of the church, Gerry Prosser said the congregation held a meeting earlier this month to decide what to do.
"We had a pretty good turnout and it was a hard decision to make, but the more I see today the more I think we made the right decision."
Bell removed
Demolition workers removed the church bell before beginning the process of tearing down the steeple.
"It was really worse than I thought it was," said Prosser.
"I didn't think it was that rotten, the steeple is completely gone, and where the bell set on the steeple it was completely rotten and it's a wonder it didn't fall down."
Church historian and office administrator Joyce Barbour said the section of the building being demolished was built in 1879.
"It was actually built further down on Renfrew Street and in 1910 they rolled the building up here on logs with horses pulling it and was positioned here and over the years more parts were added to the building."
She added that while it's hard to see the landmark steeple being torn down, it was a necessary move.
'Something had to be done'
"Something had to be done, because the oil is underneath that old part of the church."
"I have felt that it is sort of like a death and we've been mourning for quite some time and so now this is basically like getting it over with and saying goodbye."
Church services are held in a newer part of the church, a section the congregation will continue to use. But Barbour said the loss will leave the congregation short on space. The old sanctuary was used as a meeting space and a gym for children's activities.
She said estimates to clean up the oil spill and repair the building came in at around $700,000. While the congregation is expecting the demolition and cleanup to cost about $280,000.
Cleanup cost $280K
Pastor David Woodworth said the Petitcodiac Baptist Church has a growing congregation and the high cost and the loss of space will be felt by its users.
"This has kind of put a damper on some things but we're fully confident that God will use it for his good purposes moving forward."
Woodworth said a committee is being formed to work out what will be done to tackle these problems.
"I can't really say that we're going to plan to rebuilt right now but, who knows where that process might lead us."
He expects the old section of the building to be completely torn down by the end of the week, at which point the oil will be removed.
