The roof at St. Eustace Episcopal Church was recently replaced, courtesy of nearly $190,000 in donations from members of the community and parishioners. More than two weeks of construction on the 92-year-old building came to an end Monday, Aug. 19.

The roof was lined with wooden shingles that were about 60 years old, according to Carol Nevulis, a parishioner and church treasurer.

Up until now, shingles have been replaced piecemeal over time. But recently, when a roof repairman went to replace more shingles, he found that the roof structure beneath the shingles was deteriorating, Nevulis said. The roof never got to the point of leaking, but the church’s leadership launched into action.

“It was time,” Nevulis said. “We got it just in time. And by taking care of the roof, we’re also preserving the building and our beautiful stained glass windows.”

A capital campaign to raise money for the repairs was launched last June. Donations poured in from not only parishioners but residents of the community who don’t attend the church, according to Nevulis.

The fundraising effort was bolstered in part by weekly cookie sales last summer and this summer that coincided with the Songs at Mirror Lake concert series across the street at Mid’s Park, according to Jim Rogers, chairman of the capital campaign.

Nevulis estimated around half of the total amount raised was contributed by non-parishioners.

“This is a property that everybody uses,” she said. “At one point or another, everyone has sat on this bank and watched the fireworks (on Fourth of July).

“The purpose was to help preserve this structure, one of the more beautiful buildings in Lake Placid, and preserve the property so it can remain something the entire community has to share.”

Lake Champlain Roofing, a Plattsburgh-based company, was contracted for the project.

The new roof is made of composite material instead of wood, Nevulis said. The hope is that this new roof will last another 50 years.

This year is the church’s 119th anniversary.

The St. Eustace Episcopal Church, then called St. Eustace-By-The-Lakes, was built in 1900 on Victor Herbert Road. The property is owned by Ruth Hart.

In 1926, the Gothic Revival-style church was moved board-by-board to its current location on Main Street, overlooking Mid’s Park.

The church reopened in its new location in 1927.

But the history of St. Eustace-By-The-Lakes stems back to at least 1894, before the construction of a formal church. At the time, it was a summer mission in Lake Placid led by Rev. Walter Larom of Saranac Lake. The mission held its first service in the parlor of the Stevens House, what was then the largest hotel in the village built at the highest property elevation in the Adirondacks, at 2,000 feet above sea level.

When the original church was built on Signal Hill, overlooking Mirror Lake and Lake Placid, it was open only for the summertime, according to a 1999 article in the Lake Placid News. Winter services were held at various other places within the village, including at what was then St. Hubert’s Church on Sentinel Road, which was constructed in 1902. That building was sold to the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1924 and was subsequently destroyed by fire.

Today, the church hosts two services every Sunday and services on Wednesday and Saturday evenings.