Community halls are not the only gathering places to take a hit these days. The Mount Denson Baptist Church now faces an upgrading crisis of its own, and there are hopes the community will pitch in and help bring it up to code.

An inspection by the Fire Marshal’s Office had outlined a number of necessary improvements, and though most conditions have been met, two upgrades have proven too costly.

An outside entrance to the basement -- which houses the church kitchen, bathroom and hall -- needs to be installed, as well as panic bars on any exterior doors. With a $20,000 price tag, it could take a miracle for a congregation of 30 to raise the funds.

Church trustee Wilf Tracey said the congregation will comply with the regulations, but it has posed a hardship. The basement area hosts many of the church activities -- including youth and ladies groups, potluck dinners and popular community hymn sings. Because they can now only allow a small number of people in the basement at one time, their options are limited.

“When we hold the hymn sing, we can only hope too many people won't head down stairs for tea and cakes,” Tracey said. As well, the annual strawberry supper will need to be put on hold this year.

The congregation has come up with several possibilities for fundraisers, but the church cannot accommodate them. “They have a lot of ideas and we have to keep saying ‘no.’ Eventually, the congregation is going to get frustrated.”

Increase in interest

The “Friendly little Church on the Hill” has seen an increase in interest over the past two years, since Rev. Virginia De Adder stepped up to the pulpit. Tracey said that has been real positive for the church. “We are very fortunate to have someone of her calibre and enthusiasm. She has been out there in the community and it shows in the headcount for services.”

The congregation has almost doubled in recent years, but Tracey said it is still too low to keep things afloat, let alone complete the necessary work before the next inspection.

“The last thing we want to do is break the law,’ Tracey said. “That's not our intent, but in order to make our activities viable, we need the numbers.”

Twenty-five years ago he said, occupancy in the church basement wasn’t a safety issue, but the current regulations have tied their hands. “It’s no more of an issue for us now that it was then; it’s just that the rules have changed.”

Local fire inspector Tim Leslie has not been to the site for an inspection, but upholds decisions made by the Fire Marshal's office. “The first thing I would look at for in any structure would be getting people out in the case of a fire,” he said. A church basement without a proper escape route could pose serious safety issues.

Life-saving measures

“When it comes to life-saving measures,” Leslie noted, “we need to make any public building safe.”

He said it would be standard in that situation to reduce the occupancy load so that everyone could get out quickly if the need arose.

“I'm more than willing to come down and take a look, anything I can do to help them I will,” he said.

The church board of trustees appealed to the Municipality of West Hants for funding, but council came up short when they declined to assist. Warden Richard Dauphinee said they have had similar requests over the years and haven't been able to support those, either. He said it has been a hard decision in each case.

Coun. Randy Matheson agreed that, though council can support churches from a moral standpoint, it is not in their mandate to offer financial assistance.

Area representative Coun. Rick Gaudet said, however, “I think it's totally ridiculous that we don't support this church.”

The board is applying for provincial funding, but hopes some community sweat equity could defray some expenses. “Once we get down to the nitty-gritty, the total cost could be substantially less,” Tracey said. He acknowledged, however, that “until we have a glimmer of hope that some funds will be available, we just can't move forward.”