ADAMS — St. Stanislaus Kostka Church is facing a tall order and a tight deadline to fundraise at least $1.3 million for water, roof and mold repairs by Oct. 31 of next year — and its preservation committee is meeting those challenges with energy.
In recent weeks, the committee launched sskpreservation.org, where people can donate, read more about the church and its needs.
While the church building is safe for services, it needs urgent repairs and is facing problems including black mold and roof decay.
“We have issues with water infiltration and the mold caused by it that need to be addressed first and foremost,” the Rev. Paul Norman said in a news release announcing this fundraising drive. “We should be doing our best so we can preserve the church for many generations to come.”
St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams is again facing an existential threat. The community is rising to the challenge
The committee was formed in 2022 to address issues with the church, which were identified in an engineering report in 2020. A follow-up assessment in 2022 confirmed that water in the basement led to a mold problem.
The committee set about developing a fundraising plan, presenting it in January to the Most Rev. William Byrne, bishop of the Springfield Diocese. The diocese requested that the committee hold a listening session with parishioners and conduct more research before embarking on a mission to collect $5.1 million for a four-phase repair process that the committee hopes to complete by Oct. 22, 2030.
St. Stan’s parishioners, who held a years-long vigil to prevent the church’s closure in 2008, chose to support a fundraising effort earlier, rather than close and sell it or do nothing and let it deteriorate.
“We ask that you be as generous as possible, as our Bishop has given us a period of one year to raise approximately $1.5 million for the beginning of our project,” Norman said in a video on the website. “This will stabilize our building, and it will allow us to continue to offer the beauty that this local church gives to not only our local community, but we hope and pray, the entire world.”
Phase one aims to stop water leakage and ultimately eradicating mold contamination for an estimated $1.28 million. Phase two, at $1.88 million, would renovate Kolbe Hall. Phase three, at $1.4 million, would install handicapped access and repair window exteriors. And phase four, projected to cost $490,000, would address any additional issues.
The committee is attempting to attract wealthy donors at levels starting at $10,000 and reaching to $100,000.
The brick church, with its ornate interior, traditionally served Polish immigrants who moved to Adams to work in the town’s mills. Its cornerstone was laid in 1904.
The fundraising effort emphasizes the church’s importance to the area’s Polish community, its historical and artistic significance, as well as its churchgoers, some of whom staved off the effort to close it during downsizing in 2008. After a vigil lasting 1,150 days, the church celebrated its reopening Mass on Palm Sunday in 2012.
The preservation website touts St. Stan’s “splendid wall and ceiling paintings, vivid stained-glass windows, century-old wood carvings, and sacred sculptures.”
It points out that the church, home to relics and hand craftsmanship, is also the home of the first publicly displayed image of Divine Mercy in the Western Hemisphere.
Among ways the committee aims to raise money is through regular tours of the church. One such tour will take place this at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, led by town historian Eugene Michalenko.