It has been 20 years since St Mary’s Catholic Church in Cosgrove Street, Adaminaby was destroyed by fire.

The church was built in 1911 and moved, stone by stone from Old Adaminaby to Cosgrove Street, Adaminaby in 1957 where it was rebuilt.

At about 10.30pm on Thursday 13 July 2006, neighbour Monica George was awakened by two young men who lived nearby, banging on her door and telling her the church was on fire.

Mrs George recalled it ‘was a big fire – it blistered the paint on my car’.

Cooma Fire Brigade attended, and according to the then captain, Chris Reeks, there wasn’t much they could do other than pour water on it to extinguish the fire.

According to Mr Reeks’ report in the station log book, the brigade was notified at 23.24 hours, but by the time they travelled to Adaminaby, the fire had practically destroyed the church.

His report stated it was ‘totally destroyed by fire, roof and one wall collapsed, the rest of building unstable’.

An excavator was used to demolish what was left, for safety reasons.

Mrs George, who lived in the former convent next door, said her residence suffered no damage.

“My hands were frozen to the verandah rail, it was really scary,” Mrs Geroge said.

She said the site was assessed the next morning. Newspaper reports from that time stated a forensic investigator, Senior Constable Grant Scott, attended from Queanbeyan and retrieved some samples from inside the church but declined to comment on the cause of the fire.

No cause has ever been reported and no charges laid although rumours persist 20 years on.

The loss of the church certainly upset the congregation, many of whom had been worshippers at both old and new Adaminaby.

It was decided to rebuild St Mary’s on the same site.

Mrs George said she approached builder Vince Gullotto, who had a residence in York Street, Adaminaby, to ask his advice.

She said the community was blessed to have found Mr Gullotto, who did so much to rebuild the church.

The new church cost $601,000, covered by insurance.

It took nearly five years, but the new St Mary’s was officially opened on Saturday 15 January 2011, by Bishop Pat Power.

It was 100 years to the day of the laying of the foundation stone for the original St Mary’s at old Adaminaby.

More than 200 people attended to see the Bishop bless and dedicate the new building, and to see builder Mr Gullotto hand over the keys .

A celebratory mass was conducted by parish priest Paul Huthnance after which Bishop Pat blessed the repositioned foundation stone.