WILLOW CREEK — The restoration of St. Anne’s Catholic Church’s bell tower and steeple, begun in April, has become an unexpected tourism draw, bringing former Willow Creek mill workers back to town for the first time in decades to see the landmark their labor helped maintain.
The $140,000 project, funded by a combination of parish fundraising and a matching grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, includes replacing rotted timbers, repointing brickwork, and rebuilding the copper spire that has been a downtown landmark since 1904.
But what started as a construction project has turned into a reunion of sorts. Parish records show that dozens of the church’s original pews, fixtures, and structural beams were donated by millworkers or built by mill carpenters in the early 20th century.
“We’ve had people drive up from Massachusetts, Connecticut, even Florida,” said Father Thomas O’Brien. “They come to see the work, but they stay to tell stories about their grandfathers who carried lunch pails past this church every day for 40 years.”
The church is hosting a “Heritage Open House” on the first Saturday of each month through September, with guided tours of the restoration work and a display of historic mill photographs in the parish hall.