Caleb Nickerson
ALLUMETTE ISLAND
July 18, 2017
Last Tuesday, Pontiac MNA André Fortin was in Chapeau to announce close to $180,000 in funding for the restoration of Saint-Alphonse-de-Liguori Church.
The $178,185 grant is part of the Funding Assistance Program for the Restoration of Religion-Based Cultural Heritage and is being used to repair aging masonry on the church’s exterior walls and walkways.
“I call it my yearly pilgrimage to Chapeau because it is a long-term commitment that we have with the St. Alphonsus Parish,” Fortin said. “I was there last year to announce $150,000 in funding. When we showed up today, they were doing work with those monies.”
He added that St. Alphonse, which was built in 1888, is an important cultural landmark for both the Pontiac and Western Quebec and deserves to be kept in good shape.
“It’s a jewel of religious heritage so we’re happy to continue to work to preserve and maintain that church,” he said.
President of the Parish Council, Jérôme Sallafranque, explained what the money would be put towards.
“What we’re doing there is masonry work. A lot of the joints have gone out of it and some of the blocks are deteriorating,” he said, adding that there are several other areas that require attention. “We’re going to resurface the steps too and put on new railings, whatever’s got to be done to get it up to par.”
“Next year we’re planning on doing the front doors and the inside of the sacristy, but we’ll have to apply next year for that,” he continued. “It’s a beautiful church and we want to keep it up.”