For those that travel in the downtown area of Drumheller, you may have noticed that St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church is wrapped in tarps and scaffolding.
It is a major project according to Father Lukas Drapal from St. Anthony’s Church. “We have a company here that is taking of the stucco of the bell tower, and eventually the whole exterior of the church, and will be putting a new layer of stucco over the top.”
The current St. Anthony’s Church has been at the corner of 2nd Avenue West and 3rd Street West since the late 1930’s. Father Lukas notes that as the renovation on the exterior of the bell tower continues, the bell is not being disturbed. “The bell is not being touched. We do ring the bell before mass, to let parishioners know that mass is about to begin, as well as for weddings and funerals.”
The new stucco that they will be installing will be a different type of stucco material than what is currently on the building. The colour of the new stucco is expected to be white which will be quite a change from the grey that is on the church as of now.
It will take some time for this project to be completed according Father Lukas. “The estimation was three to five months. Three months if the weather is good, five months if there are a lot of rain days. The end of summer or early fall (is hopeful) to have it done. “The reason we had to do it was because last year we had a great rain storm, with 90 to 100 kilometre per hour winds, that drove moisture into the church. Over time, the vapour barrier deteriorated.” The new material is expected to last a significant amount of time.
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