The winning bid for Assumption Church repairs is 30 per cent under budget.

Lawyer Paul Mullins announced Friday that Pupatello & Sons Ltd. won the bid for Phase One of the project.

“We had a great deal of interest,” says Mullins. “We had five bidders that have been pre-qualified and the budget for the work that is being done is $1.95 million. The winning bid came in at $1.35 million and so it was 30 per cent under budget. Incredibly good news.”

Mullins says it gets them off to a tremendous start.

Pupatello contractors say they plan to use all local sub trades and will start work later this month starting with the roof.

“It’ll be a challenge,”says Anthony Pupatello. “There’s a lot of shingles to be removed. There’s some structural work to be done, but I think it’s going to go smooth. I feel confident with all of my sub-trades. We’ve got a good team.”

A report released in April relayed a sense of urgency to parishioners concerning the restoration of Windsor's oldest church.

The latest report, titled ‘Resurrection’, by Mullins warns the ongoing delays to repair the historic Assumption Church could add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the final cost.

In Mullins’ first report, the failings of the two previous fundraising campaigns were outlined while the following report identified a $20 million fundraising goal to complete the restoration of the 174-year-old church.

Local philanthropist Al Quesnel has offered to match up to $5 million, but donations need to be collected by the end of August.

In April, it was reported a million dollars had been formally donated, while a further $3.25 million has been informally committed.

Assumption church has been unoccupied for five years and is 10 years removed from the first fundraising campaign to restore the historic west-end building.