Praying for seven million miracles Historic downtown church headed for sale, possibly wrecker’s ball By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 6:49 PM CDT Friday, May. 24, 2024 Last Modified: 8:10 PM CDT Friday, May. 24, 2024 Updates

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A historic church that has stood sentinel to changes in downtown Winnipeg for 140 years could be facing the wrecking ball.

The congregation of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, which is designated as both a National Historic Site of Canada and as a protected historical building in Winnipeg, has asked the Bishop of Rupert’s Land for permission to put the property up for sale.

A geological survey conducted in 1989 found that the building isn’t structurally sound and the congregation has been told the current cost of fixing it is $7 million.

Faced with that reality, even local historical advocates agree the church, at 256 Smith St., across the road from the Millennium Library, will need its own miracle to stay standing.

“I believe in the not too distant future, there will be something else on that site,” said Gordon Goldsborough, head researcher at the Manitoba Historical Society, on Friday.

“It will pain them to see it demolished, but there isn’t a bottomless pit of money to save old buildings. Unless there is a white knight out there who is willing to put bucketloads of money into it, I don’t see a good ending here.”

“It will pain them to see it demolished, but there isn’t a bottomless pit of money to save old buildings.”–Gordon Goldsborough

The bishop, Rt. Rev. Geoff Woodcroft, was at a meeting out of province and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Sandra Bender, the people’s warden at the church, said the congregation doesn’t have $7.2 million to fix the ornate structure, which a City of Winnipeg report calls “one of Canada’s finest examples of a 19th-century Gothic Revival style.” Stony Mountain and Selkirk limestone were used in its construction, as well as limestone from Ohio for many exterior ornaments.

“The main problem is the building wasn’t built with a foundation,” Bender said. “We don’t have foundation issues — we don’t have a foundation.

“It is a bit of a miracle our church has stood as long as it has because other churches in Toronto built the same way are gone.”

Bender said it’s especially poignant because the church will throw open its doors on Saturday for the annual Doors Open event. (The church will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

“The building is now in a state where in the next six months to three years, it could be determined unsafe and condemned,” she said. “This could be our last Doors Open.”

A report given to the congregation at the church’s annual meeting earlier this year, said “since the late 1980s, this parish has operated with the knowledge that major repairs to build a foundation under the historic church would be necessary to avoid a collapse.

“The building is now in a state where in the next six months to three years it could be determined unsafe and condemned. This could be our last Doors Open.”–Sandra Bender

“It is still not clear when, exactly, that collapse will occur, but signs of structural distress continue to present themselves with increasing urgency.”

The report said the church has searched for years for a partner to plan the repairs and has looked to see if it could do the repairs itself, but “we have concluded that we do not have the capacity as a parish to do so.”

A separate report by the parish says the church, which was designed to seat 800 people, has been plagued by decreasing membership, from 100 to 200 people. Just 30 to 60 people, on average, attend Sunday worship.

After revenues and expenses, the church had a surplus of $11,560 last year.

Cindy Tugwell, Heritage Winnipeg’s executive director, said the church has been neglected, and necessary repairs haven’t been done.

“If you let it go for years, it becomes a major repair with a major price tag,” Tugwell said. “The longer you leave it, the more expensive it is to fix.

“They’ll try to sell it, but in the end, it will be demolished. That’s prime real estate for development.”

Tugwell said the problem isn’t unique to Holy Trinity.

“A lot of these churches have let necessary major repairs go too long,” she said. “This should have been done a long, long time ago. They should have sold it before it became too cost-prohibitive for someone else to do.”

Jason Schreyer, the councillor who chairs the municipal government’s historical buildings committee, said the only time he was in the church was a decade ago.

“It is a beautiful building,” Schreyer said. “Once you are inside, you won’t forget it.”

“It is an amazing little enclave of old-school architecture. It’s built up around, but you have this soulful refuge with a beautiful church and space.”

While the church is currently protected by the city, Schreyer said city council could always hear the case to remove the designation.

The church replaced an original one the congregation had grown out of on Portage Avenue.

A report for the city committee said when a church official announced he had purchased land for a new church between Smith and Donald streets, at Graham Avenue, some in the congregation said, “why did you go so far out?”

The church, which held its first service on July 25, 1884, was soon surrounded by the thriving downtown of the growing city.

“One of the most spectacular features is the hammer beam ceiling, a Gothic-inspired interior truss system used to replace columns to support the ceiling,” the report says.

It was designed by architect Charles H. Wheeler, who came from Britain in 1882, and designed numerous homes, offices, churches and warehouses. Another of his works is the Sir Hugh John Macdonald House, known now as Dalnavert Museum, at 61 Carlton St.

The city’s historical designation for the church, put in place in 2008, protects both its exterior and interior elements.

The exterior elements include pointed arch windows, wood detailing on the bell tower in southwest corner, spire at the southeast corner, and dormers on the north and south roof slopes, and the roughly dressed and smooth-cut stone superstructure has elaborate details including Gothic motifs, turrets, buttresses and high crosses.

Inside, protected elements include the commanding ceiling featuring wood planking and hammer beams and a wagon roof ceiling in the chancel, as well as 1920s-era lighting, oak pulpit, stained glass and marble and stone columns.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

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Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason was a general assignment reporter at the Free Press.