by Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 15/97) - St. Alphonse Church in Fort Smith has not only withstood time, climate and a host of uses, it has also withstood two moves.

Not bad for 70-year-old building.

If all goes as planned, the Roman Catholic Church will undergo a final move -- back to its original site in what is now the Fort Smith Mission Historic Park.

The GNWT has called for tenders by Sept. 16 to move the church. It is the second time the government has made the call. Last year, the tender was cancelled.

Built in the 1920s, St. Alphonse was first relocated to a spot along the Slave River in the 1960s, after the building of St. Joseph's Cathedral made St. Alphonse redundant.

After a landslide left St. Alphonse perilously close to the river, the parish decided the church should be moved near to the Catholic cemetery, its present location. That move was made in the late 1960s.

"The church holds many memories for many Fort Smith residents," Sister Agnes Sutherland, an authority on St. Alphonse Church, said last week. "It's an important part of the history of the park."

Sutherland was in Fort Smith when the church was first moved.

Though well-built, age and two moves have "not helped" its condition, but it remains "in good condition," she said.

"The project is near and dear to many people. Many remember the church on the old site," said Tom Colosimo,

regional facilities manager for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

It's definitely a well-built church," said Colosimo.

He said he is often asked: "When are we moving the church?"

Reminiscent of churches in rural Quebec, St. Alphonse was made a cathedral in 1926 when the Roman Catholic Church moved its administrative centre from Fort Providence to Fort Smith, according to documents from Sister Sutherland.

And the church bell, installed in 1927, was named St. Alphonse, after Father Alphonse Mansoz. The church was originally called St. Isidore after Isadore Clut.

Fort Smith's first permanent mission was established by Father Zephyrin Gascon.

Gascon called the mission St. Isidore, in honor of Bishop Isidore Clut, the co-adjutor of the Vicariat of Athabasca-Mackenzie.