Parishioners at Assumption Parish in Windsor are feeling optimistic about the future of their historic church.
Days after a report from lawyer Paul Mullins laid out the failures of the fundraising effort to save the structure, people have had a chance to digest the findings.
The 43-page report outlines a strained relationship between Assumption Parish, the Diocese of London and the company hired to run the fundraising campaign, Philanthropic Management Consultants.
Bishop Ronald Fabbro suspended the campaign in 2012 after years of conflict and $450,000 in losses.
At an open house at the church, dozens of people came out for a rare chance to be inside the building that closed in 2014.
A video showing the history of the parish attracted over 150 people Tuesday night and was replayed Wednesday.
Parishioner Janet Menard says the Mullins report has changed her mind. "There are thoughts of hopefulness, that this will be able to reopen again as a place of worship and we can come home," says Menard.
Local historian and parishioner Terry Kennedy says the report vindicated what parishioners had been saying. "It was like the hurt feeling of being told they were fools, that they were interfering in things they didn't understand and it's like, no, we're the parishioners. You might be the board but somehow you dropped the ball long before we started asking questions," says Kennedy.
The next step in the process is expected in October when Mullins will lay out options to move the reconstruction of the 1845 building forward.