A closed Winooski church may be replaced with housing.
Joe Handy said in an interview on Thursday that his family’s company, Sisters and Brothers Investment Group, is under contract to buy the St. Stephen Catholic Church, which held its last Mass in 2020.
“It’s under contract between us and the Catholic diocese,” Handy said. If the deal is finalized, the family plans to build housing on the site.
Asked if the church would be demolished, Handy said he didn’t know. “We’re going through that right now,” he said. “The building needs to be demolished through the Catholic Diocese because it’s a church.”
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington could not be reached for comment on Friday. Representatives from the St. Francis Xavier Parish, which is now in charge of the closed church, declined requests for comment.
Mike O’Brien, the former Winooski mayor, said in an interview on Friday that he was on the St. Stephen parish council when it merged with St. Francis Xavier in 2020. He also joined the finance committee at St. Francis Xavier and said that the group is involved in the sale.
O’Brien confirmed that the closed church is under contract but would not confirm that Handy is the buyer, saying he was not able to disclose any details.
Eric Vorwald, Winooksi’s planning and zoning administrator, said in an email this week that “St. Francis Xavier, the current owner of the property, put out a request for proposals for prospective buyers of the St. Stephen’s property. I believe a selection was made, but to my knowledge this transaction has not been finalized.”
Vorwald also said that, as of Wednesday, the city hadn’t received any permit applications to start demolition of the church.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington closed St. Stephen in 2020 following the departure of its priest. The Diocese sent a decree that said the assets of St. Stephen would then belong to St. Francis Xavier, another Catholic parish less than half a mile away.
In a July 2020 press release, the diocese said that “a declining and aging population and increasing costs of maintaining parish properties and buildings necessitated the decision to close the church.”
O’Brien said the original St. Stephen’s church was built around 1870, but the current building dates to around 1928. He also said that St. Francis Xavier traditionally had a French-Canadian population while St. Stephen had mostly Irish parishioners but it came to include other groups as well.
Next door to St. Stephen, the Winooski Senior Center is leasing its land from the church. O’Brien sought to assuage any concerns about the senior center’s fate, saying that “it’s not going anywhere as a direct result of the sale.” He noted, however, that the new owners may have to renegotiate the center’s lease.
St. Stephen is not the only Catholic parish looking at a possible sale and development in the area.
The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Burlington is also under contract to be sold and the Catholic church has applied to the city to demolish it. While the church hopes to clear the property so a sale can be completed, some in the city have fought to preserve the former cathedral.