Windsor's 'Notre-Dame' ready for restoration immediately after approval from city council

A repair project for a building parishioners have dubbed the region's Notre-Dame has been approved, following years of debate over the future of Assumption Church in Windsor.

Council voted to approve the church's application for a Heritage Alteration Permit on Mondaynight, while also releasing $250,000 first promised in 2010 from the City's Community Heritage Fund for the project.

"It's never been a question in my mind or in the mind of people who care about these things that this is a church that has to be restored. There's just no option," said Paul Mullins, spokesperson for the church.

The entire project will cost nearly $20 million, the majority of which will be provided byprivate donors, according to the church.

The Notre Dame of Windsor

Mullins said that public support has continued to increase, and noted that when a tragic fire destroyed the roof of he Notre-Dame in Paris, people in Windsor realized the necessity of protecting Assumption Church, which dates back to 1845.

"It was something that everybody in this area related to and equated it to Assumptions Church because Assumption Church is really our equivalent Notre-Dame," said Mullins.

"The importance of it to our community, to our history, is at that level."

Mullins said that scaffolding is up around the churchwhich held its last weekend mass in 2014to allow the project to start immediately.

Local contractor wins early work

Workers will start restorations byreplacing the church's current roof with copper shingles.

Members of the public can have their names added to these shingles if they donate $250.

The new shingles are expected to last 80 to 100 years, according to Mullins.

The first phase of the roof replacement will cost $1.35 million and will be undertaken by local companyPupatello & Sons Ltd.