'It's an important part of the community': Historic Assumption Church being assessed

Windsor's Assumption Church has begun the assessment process of its renovations.

Workers have been in to see the extent of plaster damage, amongother restoration concerns.

For the church, it's one of the first stepsin figuring out how much the renovations will actually cost.Initial estimates of the project had it ballooning anywhere from $15 million to$20 million.

LawyerPaul Mullinshas been volunteering with the churchto help in the restoration effort.

He said the assessment stage is important in understanding the full extent of repairs and potential costs.

"Part of what's happening here today is part of the assessment of the condition of the buildingthe condition of the plaster, condition of the paintings to see what costs would be involved in actually restoring it," said Mullins.

Funding woes

Renovation funding has been an issue for the church, which has held two previousfundraisers.

Mullins said a thorough assessmentstage will ensure all costs are accounted for.

"Partof the work that is beingdone is to make sure that theamountof costs that we've estimated in the past is valid," said Mullins."We've done similar things with other aspects in terms of the restoration of the masonrywork, the heating system, all of these components would have to be addressed."

The church is still looking for additional sources of funding.

What about parishioners?

Despite the funding issues, Mullinshas confidence in the church's ability to maintain longevity.

"[The parish] isvery healthy financially. and one of the big concerns, if they can restore the church, is whether they can keep it up in thefuture."

The church closed in 2014, leaving its parishioners in limbo as to when they could come back.

Currently, Mullinssaid many of them worship at Holy Name of Mary church.He also emphasised many of them have a vested interest in seeing Assumption Church open.

"It's an important part of the community from the heritage perspective and there's a great desire to see if there's any way to be able to get the job done."

Mullinswas unable to providesolid numbers relating to costs and church attendance.He said more detailswill be given in an upcoming report on the restorations.