December 11, 2018

Mater Dolorosa Church demolition begins; to be completed by next week

REGIONAL
By Rebecca Drake

(IObserve submitted photo)

SPRINGFIELD – After many years of efforts to save or sell the closed Mater Dolorosa Church in Holyoke, the demolition of the building began early on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 11.

According to Springfield Diocese spokesman Mark E. Dupont, the city of Holyoke issued the demolition very early on Tuesday morning and the work was begun shortly thereafter by the Springfield-based Charlie Arment Trucking, Inc.

“We understand that this is an especially poignant time (of year) to have to undertake this process,” Dupont told iObserve. “But it reflects our serious concern over the structural integrity of the building.”

The demolition comes nearly six months after a plan for the city of Holyoke to purchase the closed church was rejected by the city council. The proposal was for the city to purchase the church and friary for $50,000 and seek proposals from organizations that would restore and redevelop the buildings for secular use.

“There is never a good time to demolish a beloved church,” Dupont said. “But it became necessary, given the onset of winter and our longstanding concerns over the building.”

The demolition is expected to take just under a week and comes after months of planning and preparations, including the removal of stained-glass windows and lighting fixtures, which were sold to a church supplier; as well as the removal of pews, statues and the old main altar. One of the stained-glass windows, depicting St. Francis, was to go to the Conventual Franciscan order that staffed the former Mater Dolorosa Parish.

Dupont said the clearing of the site should be completed sometime in January.

The former parish was merged with another Holyoke parish, Holy Cross, in 2011 to form Our Lady of the Cross Parish, located on nearby Sycamore Street. Since that time, the diocese had ongoing concerns about the integrity of the steeple, while former parishioners and other groups maintained that the steeple was sound. Former parishioners also challenged the church closing by holding an around-the-clock vigil in the church for a year and by appealing to the highest court in the Vatican, which upheld the decision to close the church by then Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell.

Other attempts to save the church building included efforts to establish a historic district that included the church, but this too was voted down by the Holyoke City Council.

The diocese also tried to sell the property but, Dupont said, “At this point, we have exhausted every possible avenue to find a buyer.” He added that the diocese estimated the cost of rehabilitating the building to be millions of dollars.

Dupont also noted that, at the time of its closing, the former Mater Dolorosa Parish was approximately $500,000 in debt and had a rapidly declining parish enrollment.

Still, Dupont acknowledged that the demolition of a church building is a painful experience for all those involved, but especially the former parishioners. He likened it to losing a family member.