Community embarks on fundraising effort to collect $5,000 needed to save St. Paul’s

The 22 people who gathered for a meeting to discuss the future of St. Paul's Chapel have showed the members of the Dalkeith History Club that there is interest in saving the community's last remaining heritage building.

The meeting was held at the public library on Saturday, November 13 and its purpose was to update the interested public on the negotiation process and to initiate discussions on turning the building into a community heritage centre.

Last week, History Club spokesperson Frances Fraser told The Review that after months of negotiations with the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall to save St. Paul's Chapel, the diocese has offered the building to the community for one dollar, providing it pays for the severance, which could amount to around $5,000.

"Bishop Paul-André Durocher is now willing to let us have the building for a dollar," Fraser confirmed. "This is great news for us because we have been working so hard to save this building. It really is the last remaining historical building in the community."

Fraser said the 14-member history club has been working diligently since March to save the building, the fate of which remained unknown until recently.

Fraser said Saturday's meeting was "very well attended" and it is apparent the community is interested in the club's plans to turn the chapel into a history centre.

"Everyone was pleased to hear how generous  the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall has been," she said. "The Bishop would like to see this happen for the community. It was pointed out that the St. Paul's  building is ideally situated between the library and the community hall, the only two groups that presently bring people to the village."

Fraser said the building was inspected on September 17 and was found to be in "structurally good condition."

"It was mentioned that the building would be ideal for exhibitions and would not need to be modified very much," Fraser confirmed.

She noted some people at the meeting were fearful that the project would not succeed and felt $5,000 was a lot of money to fundraise. However, Fraser said many committed to donating money to see if the $5,000 could be raised, even if they felt the project wouldn't come to fruition.

"Some felt it might work, some weren't too sure," she remarked. "There were many questions asked about the future, taxes, maintenance and upkeep of the building, things of that nature. Those are questions we can't answer right now. We have to take this one step at a time and right now, we need to see if we can come up with the $5,000."

Fraser said those at the meeting decided to go ahead and raise enough money for the  severance and the required number of people (10) signed the "willing to work commitment sheet."

Cheques should be made out to the Dalkeith History Society and anyone interested in making a donation may drop their cheques off at the library or mail them to Dalkeith History Society, Box. 88, Dalkeith, Ontario, K0B 1E0.

Once the money is raised, the diocese would hold the money in escrow until the cost of the severance is determined. The share of the history society is limited to a maximum of $5,000 and if the severance costs less, the difference would be returned to the history society.