Stonington - The parishioners of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Pawcatuck will repair the structural problems that forced the closure of their church two years ago instead of building a new $9 million church.

St. Michael's pastor, the Rev. Dennis Perkins, announced the change in plans during Christmas services. St. Michael has held its services at St. Mary Church in the borough since the April 2012 closure.

Since then, St. Michael's completed a comprehensive study that investigated the current and future needs of the parish, the problems with the current structure, the cost of options, the wishes of parishioners and how much money could be raised through a capital campaign. The process included a survey of parishioners and forums to explain the options and gather their input.

Earlier this year, the parish agreed to proceed with building a new larger church on the Liberty Street site as it was initially felt that a new building would not cost much more than the extensive repairs needed to shore up the existing church. Working with the architects, the parish was able to reduce the cost of the project from $12 million to

$9 million.

But Perkins said Monday a study of how much could be raised through a fundraising campaign found that a $2 million to $3 million figure was more realistic than the $4 million to $5 million needed to begin work on a $9 million new church. The rest of the money would have been borrowed and a second capital campaign would have been needed.

Repairing the church is expected to cost less than

$5 million.

Perkins began looking at other options and information gathered from the study, which led him to Vermont Timber Works, a company that specializes in making heavy timber trusses and that has worked on church projects. He said the company has a plan to remove the weakened church roof and install the trusses. Other work will be done to carry the loads and strengthen the walls. He said the repaired church will feature higher ceilings with exposed wooden trusses and allow columns that now partially block views to be moved to the walls. The work will also allow for electrical upgrades and insulation. He said he would like to see the work completed and the church reopened in a few years.

Perkins said parishioners are very excited about the plan, especially since it can be completed more quickly than the construction of a new church.

He said the new plan will preserve a church that has been part of the community for 150 years, something he called unusual.

"It means a lot to the people who have lived here their whole lives that they are able to save a historic church and extend its life into the future," he said.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas