St. Mary’s gets a new roof in Holley

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Contractors are working on a new roof for St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Holley. The roof hasn’t been replaced in 38 years.

Work started about two weeks ago with Century Architectural Sheet Metal in Buffalo tackling the job. The project is expected to be complete by Dec. 1, said Father Mark Noonan, parish priest.

The former brown shingles will be replaced with a gatehouse slate color. “It’s really going to make the sandstone shine,” Father Noonan said.

The church was built in 1904 and was inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame last month.

The parish last fall announced a capital campaign with a goal for $300,000. Parishioners at St. Mary’s in Holley and St. Mark’s in Kendall came through with $585,000.

That is allowing the parish to put on new roofs for St. Mary’s and St. Mark’s, and address other facility needs. Air-conditioning was added to St. Mary’s this summer.

The interior of the sanctuary will be updated over the next one to two years. The church will reach out to a consultant on those improvements.

St. Mary’s also plans to redo the driveway to add more handicapped accessible parking spaces, and wants to put in new sidewalks.

St. Marks’ has a new restroom as part of the capital projects and will be getting new steps.

This statue of Mary was recently refurbished inside St. Mary’s. The statue was white, but it was painted with many details added. The statue was originally made in 1880.

Other statues also have been refurbished at St. Mary’s, including ones of St. Rocco and St. Patrick.

The St. Mary’s Parish is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.