The event will begin with a Mass at 2 p.m. and open house from 3 to 5 p.m. Refreshments will be served across the street at Columbia Hall.
St. Patrick's Church is seen in Monson.
The event will begin with a Mass at 2 p.m. and open house from 3 to 5 p.m. Refreshments will be served across the street at Columbia Hall.
Town Meeting voters this year approved spending $83,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the renovations, which included painting and ceiling repairs.
“This will be a huge celebration for the townspeople,” pastoral associate Wilfred “Fred” J. Fredette said.
Fredette said the church, at 22 Green St., is a National Catholic Historic Site. Built in 1864, last time the interior was painted was in 1979, according to Father Jeddie P. Brooks.
Gone is the yellow paint from the 1970s, and in its place are a “multiplicity of colors,” according to Brooks. He said the sanctuary has been painted a “beautiful blue” with the rest of the interior repainted in “earth tones.” Artech, a Meriden, Conn. firm specializing in church restorations, did the work, Brooks said.
He said the church building committee was responsible for the project. He said they are holding the rededication ceremony because they want the Community Preservation Committee, town dignitaries and residents to see how their money was spent.
Through the Community Preservation Act passed in 2006, taxpayers pay a 3 percent surcharge on their property taxes that is used for open space and recreation, affordable housing and historic preservation, and receives funds from the state for the projects in return.
Brooks said the public also will get the chance to see other completed projects that were done in recent years without community preservation money, such as the restoration of the organ, and re-leading of the stained glass windows.
Fredette said past priests also have been invited to the rededication. The church has approximately 2,500 members. New fans and lighting were donated by David Beaudoin Electric of Monson; Beaudoin also is a parishioner. He added that Griswold Glass of Palmer donated glass as well.