Wedgeport buys historic Acadian church, converts it to community centre

A southwestern Nova Scotia community is hoping its successful purchase of a historic Acadian church will serve as a model for other communities to follow.

The Wedgeport Acadian Heritage Society bought St. Michel Church from the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth for $75,000.

It is now working on transforming the deconsecrated building into a community centre for the area.

The building can hold over 1,000 people and features spectacular stained-glass windows.

Curtis Doucet, the society's president, says he hopes the process they followed can be a template for other communities facing the loss of historic landmarks.

"The way we did it can show other villages that there's a process in doing this," he said. "I tell everybody down here, it's like we have a blank paper and we can show the rest how it is done."

A church was first built on the site in 1822 and later expanded in 1867 and 1914.

It was closed after its final mass in December 2023 and deconsecrated in February of the next year.

Doucet said a small group formed a committee in March and created a non-profit society to negotiate with the diocese.

A key step was commissioning a $34,000 feasibility study, with grants from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Minister of Acadian and Francophone Affairs, he said.

"It's not putting the cart in front of the horse," he explained. "The archdiocese wanted to get to get rid of buildings like this. It was to our advantage to make sure that everything was lined up to work to our benefit."

The feasibility study by a Halifax agency confirmed the project was viable, he said. The next step was securing a small mortgage for the purchase price.

According to Doucet, the community had little choice, as the destruction of the building would have been a terrible loss.

He noted the church has been the site of a Remembrance Day service for more than 110 years.