Soldiers working on roof

Military will stay in Cape Breton to repair wind damage

Members of the military are staying in Cape Breton to continue repairs on the former St. Alphonsus church roof, after it was damaged during a recent windstorm.

“They have vowed they will stay here until it’s secure as well as check on it in the winter and come back in late spring to do any necessary repairs that will need to be done at that time,” said Melanie Sampson, chair of the Stone Church Restoration Society.

The military provided free labour to replace the church’s decaying roof as part of Exercise Nihilo Sapper 2017 in Cape Breton. The society was responsible for the $14,000 needed for the roof materials.

Although November may not have been the best time for the roof to be replaced, it was when the military was available.

“With the roof as bad as it was and left dormant for so long, we are quite confident it wouldn’t have been able to survive another harsh Cape Breton winter,” said Sampson.

“It would have been in excess of $100,000,” to have the roof repaired without the free labour.

Capt. James Tobin said four members of 4 Engineer Support Regiment from Gagetown, N.B., have been working on the roof repairs since the wind damage.

Tobin said those soldiers will return to the base soon but they will be replaced by more soldiers.

“We don’t commit to a job that we don’t plan to finish.”

Gerald Phillippo, a member of the Sheet Metal Workers and Roofers International Association Local 56 executive, said the military did a great job on the roof, it was the wind that caused the damage.

“They went above and beyond, as far as I’m concerned, to take on that task when they did,” he said. “There’s a few shingles that blew off but there’s still all kinds of them left on.”

“St. Alphonsus church is on the top of a hill and it’s wide open, there’s nothing to block it (from the wind) but Newfoundland.”

Phillippo said summer is the best time to work on a roof because it is warm and the shingles come with a strip of asphalt that is melted by the sun.

But Phillippo added that is not unusual to see a roof being replaced at this time of the year.

The Stone Church Restoration Society purchased the former church from the Diocese of Antigonish in September 2015 for $40,000 and recently signed a purchase and sale agreement. The society continues to wait for the deed.