Wellington
Church getting bright splash of interior colour
Photo & Article by Eric McCarthy,
April 4, 2014
WELLINGTON
-- For the first time since it was built 52 years ago Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Wellington is getting a complete
interior facelift.
The wood beams that had never before
seen paint are turning Lambert Blue with gold accent; the wood panel walls are
turning to a light shade of blue, called Winter Solstice.
The
interior redecorating job started on March 17.
Parish priest, Fr. Albin Arsenault
can hardly wait for the project to be completed in three to four weeks, and for
a Mass of Thanksgiving to be held. The crew from Atlantic Cathedral Painters
Ltd. from Antigonish, NS, will be in attendance for the celebration.
“This is really the thing to do,”
said Fr. Arsenault. “We don’t take anything for granted. These people, they
have a passion, they know what they’re doing, and the community has to express
and acknowledge their hard work, and it is our way to thank them.”
Fr.
Arsenault is very familiar with their work as they were the contractor for
three other church painting projects he’s been involved in since 1997.
For Bill Gottschall, the owner of
the painting company, the Thanksgiving Masses are unique. “This is my 70th
church I’ve done in my career so far. I’ve had three parties after the project.
All three of them have been in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. That tells you something, in my opinion,
about the people of Prince County; they go out of their way and they put on
some kind of a spread for us,” he said, describing the gathering as humbling
experiences.
In any church painting project he’s
been involved in, Gottschall said he always looks forward to Monday mornings
following the Sunday masses. His crew takes down and remove all the staging and
equipment at the end of their 11-hour work day on Thursday every week, wipe
down the pews and give the church a cleaning. They drive home on the Friday and
return to the church on Monday and set up again. They do the same for special
weekday event, such as funerals or special Masses.
“I’m very interested in Monday
mornings,” Gottschall confessed. “If anybody comes around, I run right over to
have a chat with them to see what they have to say.”
He tells of painting the cathedral
in Yarmouth 20-some years ago. Every day at 2 p.m. a man in his 90s would
arrive to say his rosary, always sitting at the same place. Once done, he’d go
around and shake hands with every member of the painting crew. When it came time to paint the area
over which the man would be sitting, Gottschall directed the crew to leave that
area until after the man had come and gone. The man noticed right away how they
had worked around him and told them he could have sat somewhere else. Two days
later he presented each of the painters with a homemade rosary. Gottschall
still has his.
The church’s finance committee
decided in February to go ahead with the project and contractors were
interviewed about paint schemes and costs on March 8. Work started nine days
later.
Benefit
hockey game
Fundraising to help cover the cost
of the project is underway. A successful turkey supper has already been held
and this Sunday, April 6, at 7 p.m., a benefit hockey game in support of the
project will be held in Abram-Village. Parishioners can also sign up to buy
paint for the work.
Fr. Arsenault said initial reaction
to the work has been great.
The
balcony section is completed. There’s special detailing on the front of the
balcony, including a reproduction of a painting from the Church of Notre Dame
in Quebec City. The balcony’s dark blue front is accented with gold veining,
and “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception” and “Pray for Us” are stencilled in
gold lettering. Little gold stars are incorporated into the paint.
The painters are now working in the
church’s assembly area, painting the ceiling white, the beams and the lower
walls lambert blue and the upper section of the sidewalls winter solstice. The
same colour scheme will be used at the front of the church behind the altar but
with more white. Accents throughout are in gold.
“There’s excitement. It brings
revival,” Fr. Arsenault said of the paint job. He’s expecting the same type of
reaction that was generated after the painting jobs were completed at the
churches in Tignish, Miscouche and Grand River.
“They just couldn’t believe it.
People just spontaneously responded positively,” Fr. Arsenault said. “It gives
pride to a community.”
