Historic Nova Scotia church spared from wrecking ball, maintains heritage designation

The Saint-Marie Church opened its doors in 1905. (Source: Gabrielle Bardall)

The historic Eglise Saint-Marie – which first opened its doors in Church Point, N.S., in 1905 – has been spared from the wrecking ball, according to a group dedicated to the building’s preservation.

The Association Sainte-Marie héritage et développement says the church’s heritage designation has been maintained under the Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act, which will suspended the planned demolition of the site.

The group, which was formed in late 2024, hopes to transform the building into a musée de la civilisation acadienne. The proposed site would celebrate the Acadian experience and is estimated to generate $4.4 million in economic activity in the region.

Many of the church’s parishioners were descendants of Acadian families who returned to Nova Scotia after the 1755 Deportation. The building is purported to be the largest wooden church in North American and earned its carpenter Leo Melanson a medal from Pope Pius XII in 1944.

The site was formally recognized as a Canadian Historic Site in 2001.

Earlier this month, the association received a 2025 Governors’ Award from the National Trust of Canada, which acknowledges heritage initiatives to strengthen community identity and “nurture a sense of place.

Some of the association’s efforts include a high-resolution digital scan of the church, a cleanup project to remove biohazards from the building and a provincial petition that has received nearly 800 signatures.

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