by Bea Peterson
“Well, except for the punch list, it’s finished,” said Immaculate Conception Volunteer Project Manager Greg Laurin. Plagued with one problem after another, it seemed that this first phase of the church repairs would never be completed. The work was supposed to start the fall of 2020. That plan fell apart when the original contractor backed out. Another contractor, able to take on all phases of the roof repair, including repairing and painting the steeple, making and installing all the soffits, gutters and shingling the steep and flat roofs, had to be found. Fortunately CentiMark, a national company, agreed to do the job. By then it was winter, followed by COVID-19, followed by a shortage of materials. Donated shingles for the roof were delayed as the manufacturing company worked to produce shingles to meet the needs of all its waiting customers.
Finally the shingles were delivered. Wooden soffits had to be built before shingling. Laurin said once it was determined no one could be found to build them, Centimarks’ Regional Manager Brian Warren, from Brunswick, volunteered to build them himself, with the help of one of their crane operators. That took several days. Then in February a historic damaging winter storm hit Texas and the company there that fabricates the resin needed to paint the gutters was shut down for a time, and like the rest of the country, plagued by a labor shortage. The gutters needed to be sealed before the roof was shingled. Another delay. In July it rained and delayed many jobs, pushing the church repair to a later date. The national worker shortage added to the problem. Finally, in November, between the rain, the old shingles were removed, plywood replaced where necessary and the shingles were put on, including on Thanksgiving day and right into December. “We never had more than four to six people working on the roof at one time,” said Laurin. Usually on this type of job there would be 25 to 30. With its steepness, nooks, crannies and angles the site supervisor noted it was a difficult project. And, blessedly, it was completed with no safety mishaps. The total cost was about a quarter of a million dollars. Once the punch list is completed and the bill submitted, it will be paid in full and, Laurin said, the project is still within the proposed budget.
Renovating the church has many concerned that it may never be finished. But progress is being made. It’s slow, but steady. Actually the old building has come far since the flood in 2017. At that time there was talk of tearing the church down and building a new one somewhere else, including in St. Mary’s Academy. But the majority of parishioners were determined to keep their old church. Insurance covered restoration of the basement level where services are now held. At last the roof is complete. The next project is the replacement of the large stained glass windows on the north and south sides of the church. That work is budgeted, but not covered yet. The final bill for the roof will determine how much is needed for the windows. After that will come the restoration of the church ceiling.
Some Immaculate Conception parishioners gave outright donations toward the repairs, others made donation pledges from three to five years. The pledges are coming in steadily, but there’s not enough coming in to cover all the repairs as they are made. And, as it stands, the parish right now isn’t taking in what it needs to cover yearly expenditures so there’s no money to spare in that department.
What the parish is looking to do now is set up a Go Fund Me page that will reach out to former parish members who have moved away, or reach folks who have family in, or a connection to, Hoosick Falls. There are pessimists, of course, who think the project will never be completed. But there are optimists too — enthusiastic optimists who look forward to the day when services will once again be held in the church itself.
