Repair bill mounts for church
White ants have been eating the foundations of a Trafalgar church, leaving parishioners to launch a $100,000 community appeal to undertake urgent repairs.
Parishioners at St John’s Catholic Church, Trafalgar have been pushed to the back pews as a makeshift altar in the centre of the building is used for worshippers.
In a short time, the appeal has already raised almost $60,000 but the hefty repair bill to make the church safe is only the beginning of works.
While parishioners had noticed “soft spots” in the floor for some time, the damage was not apparent until March.
When sections of carpet were lifted to investigate, they realised it was only the carpet holding things together.
Large sections of the floor in front of the altar had been eaten by white ants. It was only a matter of time before parishioners would have fallen through the cracks.
Now, between the church altar and makeshift altar there is a whopping big hole where a section of flooring has been ripped out awaiting replacement.
St John’s Parish council member Geoff Fallon said the repair bill was about $100,000.
But this is only stage one, which he said included a new concrete floor between the altar and confessional boxes, the installation of safety doors, old heating replaced and electrical works.
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Parish council members acted quickly to launch a community appeal, which was immediately boosted by a $20,000 anonymous donation just before Easter.
Donations, small change collections and St Joseph’s Primary School fundraisers have all continued to boost the appeal to just under $60,000 last week.
A Go-Fund-Me page also has been launched to assist their plight.
Parish council member Jean Huffer said they had been overwhelmed by the generosity of parishioners and the wider community.
With congregation numbers dropping rapidly in recent years, the ability to raise money from weekly offerings for the running of the church had significantly decreased.
There are only about 50 regular worshippers attending weekly masses, not enough to fund the day to day running.
Mrs Huffer said there was a lot of emotional attachment to the 1950s built church, and they hoped those who had held weddings, funerals and baptisms in the church may support the appeal.
“We are relying on the disconnected” – with one woman who hadn’t been to mass in years donating $1000 because she appreciated the importance to retain the church.
Mr Fallon said whether it was $50 or $1000, it all helped.
Elly Fallon said the generosity of people had been overwhelming.
“People care about the church. We went into it wondering if we would get a response but there is a real energy and people want to help,” she said.
The Diocese of Sale is aware of the church’s need but Mrs Huffer said with five other churches in the diocese needing repairs, there were limited funds.
The Trafalgar parish includes the church, presbytery and parish centre in Trafalgar, as well as the St Jarlath’s Church building and hall in Yarragon.
Maintenance costs on all buildings are increasing and the next project on the St John’s building will be roof repairs.
“To continue using it we have to look after it, there hasn’t been the money to do that for quite a long time and we need to do something now.
“The more we get the more repairs we can do. The other buildings on the site, the presbytery and the parish centre, they also need repair work done,” Mrs Huffer said.
COVID restrictions forced the temporary recess of Yarragon masses last year but Mrs Huffer said there were no plans by the diocese to sell the Yarragon assets to raise funds.
Donations can be made via the Go-Fund Me page (Save Our Church) or at NAB, BSB – 083879, account – 48885 1246.