Future of Halifax church in limbo again as HRM orders building closed for safety reasons

Blair Beed walked around the ornate interior of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Halifax on Friday fearful that it might be for the last time.

Small groups of glum-faced parishioners trickled in as the afternoon light filtered through the church's century-old German stained glass windows, many of them replacements for the ones destroyed in the 1917 Halifax Explosion.

Beed and his family have been involved with the 140-year-old Brunswick Street church for generations and he has been its devoted caretaker and historian for decades.

On Thursday night, Beed learned that Halifax Regional Municipality's building standards office had issued an order saying the building was unsafe and had to be vacated no later than Friday.

The order says the building must remain empty until a structural assessment report is submitted to the municipality for review and approval.

"Today is the last day we're allowed into the building and we don't know if there's a future re-entry," Beed said.

"They were going to close us soon and this just sped up the process and made it a bit of a hurry and a shock without a celebration of the life of the building."

Beed said city workers had already posted the notice of closure on the doors of the church and erected a safety fence around the entrance by 7:30 a.m. Friday.

For parishioners, the closure, whether temporary or otherwise, is the latest in a litany of setbacks for the building.

Prior to the municipal closure order, the archdiocese had announced that the last mass at the church would be held on June 30, after which it would be closed.

In a letter to parishioners dated May 10, Archbishop Brian Dunn said after consultations with parish leaders and the membership, the decision was made to remove the church from sacred use.

According to the letter, the decision was based largely on the estimated cost to repair and restore the church.

A news release from the archdiocese on Friday, after the municipal order was issued, said once work has been done to make the structure safe, the parish would arrange for a final mass and the removal of sacred objects.

Aurea Sadi, communications officer for the archdiocese, said in an email that a recent report from structural engineers advised the archdiocese to remove the church's steeple.