Historic St. Mary Church seeks funds for steeple repair

LAKEVILLE — A portion of one of Lakeville’s signature landmarks is in need of an expensive repair. The Catholic Church of St. Mary is raising money to fix its distinctive steeple.

Seen from a distance shortly after turning onto Montgomery Street (Route 41) in the center of the village, the slate steeple is a familiar sight for motorists in the drive up the incline toward Wells Hill Road. The church has been the subject of countless artistic renderings. In fact, on nice days it’s not unusual to see painters at work nearby on sidewalk easels.

"When you come up 41 in the evening, the entire church is lit up in front," said David Feheley, who chairs the church’s buildings and grounds committee. "We get comments from people of all faiths."

But preserving that view will take considerable work and resources. About four years ago, a steeplejack company inspected the church steeple and determined that it appeared structurally sound at least two-thirds of the way to the top — which was as far as the company’s equipment would allow workers to go.

But the company also took telephoto images that revealed the 1980s-era wire mesh near the top (just below the cross) had come undone. The wood around it, and the rusted steel nails that held the slate in, have become detached, allowing birds and bats unfettered access to that area and removing a barrier against rain and snow. And the repeated cycle of freezing and thawing, coupled with exposure to the elements, has caused the slate to expand, break off and get thinner.

The estimate given by the company to effectively replace most of the steeple came in at about $125,000. Now Feheley thinks it can be accomplished with a repair costing some $30,000. At any rate, the project will put a strain on the church’s modest finances.

"The engineer said, ‘The day you make the decision not to repair this steeple is the day you replace it,’" recalled St. Mary’s pastor, the Rev. Joe Kurnath.

Feheley said it is difficult to know precisely what kind of work has been done on the steeple to date. He thinks there was slate work and painting performed by volunteers in the 1980s, before he became involved with the church. Records of the work are scarce because, unlike professionals, volunteers typically leave no paper trail.

"If they weren’t involved in it, they don’t remember," Feheley said of the parishioners. "You end up with a guess as to what was done."

In the 1990s, the church completed another major project with the burial of utility lines that stretched across Route 41. The wires had obstructed the celebrated view of the majestic steeple and the rest of the building.

The church held a fundraising auction event, dubbed "Steeplechase," last weekend at Tri-Arts in Sharon. It attracted about 120 people and raised about $30,000 — $10,000 of which came from a single anonymous donor.

Kurnath, who has been at St. Mary’s since July 2005, characterized the church’s general health as "stable and growing." The church serves 300 families, about a quarter of whom are weekenders.

The 14-acre grounds, which include not only the church but also the rectory, a garage and the OWLs’ Kitchen food pantry, are in frequent use. There are Alcoholics Anonymous meetings six days a week and OWL’s Kitchen board meetings twice a month, in addition to Masses Saturdays through Wednesdays.

According to a church history in the rectory, Catholicism first took hold in the Northwest Corner in the early 19th century, when Irish immigrants settled here in large numbers to work in the ore mines. The first Mass in Lakeville was celebrated under a tree next to an ore mine, behind what is now the Inn at Iron Masters on Route 41/44.

Visiting priests then offered Masses in private homes until 1854, when the now-closed St. Patrick’s Church was built in Falls Village. Twenty-one years later, the Rev. Henry Lynch secured land near the center of Lakeville and founded St. Mary’s. The church was renovated and rededicated in 1903 and redecorated in 1975 in celebration of its centennial.