105-year-old N.B. church could see new life as apartments

For more than a century, the silver steeples of the Saint-François-Xavier Church have stood over Chaleur Bay in northern New Brunswick, but the landmark building has been closed for a year, bricks are degrading from the salty wind off the ocean, and the roof is leaking.

Now, Ronald Poirier hopes a transformation of the Charlo church into much-needed housing will help avert a possible demolition.

The church was built in 1918, to replace a previous wooden structure that burned.

"Local people built it," he said. "Local people maintained it. It would be a shame to see this beautiful structure get demolished or used for a purpose that doesn't continue with the local heritage."

The semi-retired architect drafted plans to convert the church into three floors of apartments, for a total of 18 units, with a glass-walled restaurant overlooking the bay. The top floor would have space for a community hall and a chapel, and plans show the basement as a fitness centre.

When the Saint-François-Xavier Church held its last Catholic mass in December 2022, the number of parishioners had dwindled to a few dozen, and heating costs were as much as $3,000 a month.

Father Michel Proloux, the bishop of Bathurst, recently confirmed the decision not to reopen the doors.

"The volunteers in this community are exhausted," he told Radio-Canada."These are people who are old."

Proulx said renovations to the roof would have cost thousands of dollars and the high heating costs were a burden. Parishioners recently voted to officially close the church.

The next step is the deconsecration, which will allow the diocese to decide what it would like to do with the building. 

Poirier is pursuing a feasibility study and looking for investors interested in taking on the conversion into apartments. He estimated the housing units would cost about $3.5 million to build, plus additional expenses for the public spaces.

"There's a real need in the area for apartments for seniors, for older people," he said.

Denis McIntyre, deputy mayor for the newly formed municipality of Heron Bay, which includes the community of Charlo. said many people no longer attended the church. They were still sad, however, to see it close shortly after celebrating the 100th anniversary, he said.

McIntyre said there's local support for transforming the building into apartments, an idea he compares to how the community turned its former credit union into a health centre.