Winterization of the Rectory and Maxwell-Gill Hall

02/19/2021

Council: 13181 - SABATTUS

Project Description:

The current Covid-19 pandemic had changed much with respect to our daily lives and has spilled over into the way our church community utilized the church and hall resources. Sadly, due to the restrictions imposed by the state government and the inability for many groups to hold in-person meetings, the usage of the Maxwell-Gill hall has declined precipitously. In addition, it was discovered when preparing to provide a take-out Thanksgiving dinner that the commercial propane stove located in the hall appears to have a gas leak that was not readily repairable the gas company when they came to deliver the propane. The building is large and costly to heat, even at minimum levels, and without participants being able to use it, it was difficult to justify keeping it open.

At the same time, the attached rectory building is also old with many systems in need of repair or replacement. At the time only one priest, Father Seamus Griesbach, was living there and the unreliability of the building systems caused him to reconsider his lodging arrangements.

I, Robert Michaud, along with my son and Knight in our Council, Xavier Michaud, have been assisting the Prince of Peace Parish by checking on the building throughout the fall and winter to make sure the heat was working so that the pipes wouldn’t freeze and cause further damage. Unfortunately, on a few occassions it was found that the boiler in the rectory and the furnace in the hall were not functioning. In January, Father Seamus decided to move to the rectory at Holy Family and the Prince of Peace Parish decided to moth-ball the rectory and hall for the winter.

It is sad to see those buildings idle and it is hoped that once restrictions are lifted they can be better utilized in the future. However, in the meantime, we were able to assist the Prince of Pease Parish in the process of maintaining and then winterizing the buildings.