THE heritage listed St Brigid’s Catholic Church in Rosewood may be ‘on the move’ as early as October, this year.
Gardens and trees in front of the large, multi-gabled timber building were levelled last week to clear a path for moving the church to where the presbytery and garage now stand.
The 115-year-old church building has been closed since July 2020, when it was declared unsafe due to slippage around its foundations.
At the time, Parish Priest Stephen Bliss said the church was known to have been leaning for a few decades but the movement had accelerated the lean in the 12 months leading up to its closure … “from 90mm to 200mm.”
Investigations into the problems with the foundations led to a decision, two years later, to move the church to a more stable site on the church grounds.
Known as the largest timber Catholic church in the Southern Hemisphere, the foundations were sunk into the heavy black scrub soil in 1909, above a coal mine.
The move and internal and external repairs are expected to be a multi-million-dollar exercise.
In late 2023, the Parish was given the necessary planning and heritage approvals to move the church and the church hall. The main proviso for the go ahead was that plans to demolish the presbytery and garage be set aside in favour of relocating those buildings onto the former church site.
On Sunday (June 8), Parish Operations manager, Benjamin Leschke, announced there was “positive movement” on the restoration project.
“For four-and-a-half years we have been working with the Archdiocese, Brisbane Catholic Education, Queensland State Heritage, architects, engineers, Ipswich City Council and many others, to straighten and repair St Brigid’s Church,” he told parishioners.
Clearing a path for the building to be moved 20m to the east, was not the only work now underway.
“We are currently removing the leadlight windows above the altar, to ensure they remain intact when the building is moved sometime later this year,” Mr Leschke said.
The windows damaged in the violent hailstorm in October 2020 were also receiving attention.
“They are being removed so they can be prepared for new glazing,” he said. “The glass has been matched and has been ordered from the suppliers.”
He also promised new gardens would replace those that were levelled once the church was in its new position.
“We have engaged building movers and the relevant trades and services to ensure we are resourced and ready to go, which is estimated to be around October this year, weather permitting.”
