Winnipeg church that needs $7M in repairs could be sold under certain conditions, bishop says
Holy Trinity Anglican Church faces possible demolition, but the parish hopes it can be saved with new buyer
The bishop of a 140-year-old church in downtown Winnipeg that's facing the possibility of demolition said every effort will be made to find a buyer who will preserve the church, provide a space for its congregation to worship, and continue programming geared to helping people in the city's core.
Geoffrey Woodcroft, the Anglican bishop of the diocese of Rupert's Land, which includes Winnipeg, says he gave Holy Trinity Anglican Church permission to sell the property last February, based on those conditions.
"To that end, I've spent the last couple of months seeking counsel and seeking persons, professionals, vocationals, who may be able to help us in this project," Woodcroft told CBC on Tuesday.
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, located on the corner of Smith Street and Graham Avenue in Winnipeg's downtown, has significant structural damage in need of repair, including water damage and cracks that creep up the walls around the altar and elsewhere in the building.
Holy Trinity's latest annual report, released in February, said the parish has been aware since the late 1980s that "major repairs to build a foundation under the historic church would be necessary to avoid a collapse."
Without the repairs, estimated to cost about $7 million, "structural failure and/or the building being condemned is likely a matter of months to a few years at most," an April post on the diocese's website said.
With shrinking membership, the congregation says that's money it doesn't have.
While structural issues aren't uncommon in heritage buildings, "you cannot ignore your property for decades — it's a kiss of death," said Cindy Tugwell, the executive director of Heritage Winnipeg — a non-profit that advocates for the preservation of old buildings.
"A lot of these buildings that are ignored for decades now cost millions to fix," she told CBC's Information Radio host Marcy Markusa in a Tuesday interview.
Tugwell said she doesn't want to see the church torn down and questioned why repairs weren't done decades ago on the building, which was designated a national historic site in 1990 and added to the City of Winnipeg's list of historical resources in 2008.
She thinks the repairs could be tackled in bite-sized pieces, beginning with stabilizing the structure to avoid a potential collapse. The church could then convert and diversify the building, similar to the WestEnd Commons — a mix of housing and worship space built in what was previously St. Matthews Anglican Church.
"A lot of churches have had to face these financial problems, so they've converted their buildings, they've diversified, they're part of the community," said Tugwell.
"There's funding out there, maybe, for the activities they provide the community," she said, such as a twice-weekly lunch program that Holy Trinity offers for people in need.
'A brutal reality' for heritage buildings: historian
Gordon Goldsborough, head researcher and webmaster at the Manitoba Historical Society, said he's not surprised that a church built between 1883 and 1884 has structural issues.
"It doesn't really surprise me that there'd be foundation issues, because many of the early buildings in Winnipeg weren't built with foundations," he said. "Back in those days, it was quite common just to start building right on the ground."
Holy Trinity is "not the only designated building out there that is in trouble," he said. "There just isn't enough money for heritage conservation, and that is a brutal reality I'm afraid."
With a declining membership, the significant investment needed to make the repairs may not materialize, said Goldsborough.
"I think the congregation is hoping for some kind of miracle ... but I'm not especially hopeful that it will [happen]," he said.
In the event that the church is demolished, the property would be very valuable for redevelopment, given its central location across from the Canada Life Centre and the Millennium Library, he said.
But even if the building does have to be demolished, "the reality is that they don't have to face the utter destruction of everything the church represents," said Goldsborough.
"The bricks and mortar may have to come down, but everything on the walls of the church — even the things like the windows and the pews and physical contents — these things can be salvaged and taken to another location."
The church's features include 26 large stained glass windows and a series of plaques and monuments on the walls as a tribute to parishioners who died during the First and Second World Wars.
Goldsborough said he would like the City of Winnipeg to put more funds toward preserving designated historic buildings.
Jason Schreyer, the councillor who chairs the city's historical buildings and resource committee, says its heritage status protects it from demolition or significant alteration to its character without a heritage permit.
The city has a small fund to provide grants around $15,000 to $20,000 to help conserve heritage buildings, but Schreyer said that wouldn't go far in terms of the repairs Holy Trinity needs.
"Unfortunately in this case, when it comes to this beautiful church, I don't see any special consideration given by the city, which is consistent with how the city has been dealing with its historical buildings since I've been on council for the last decade," Schreyer said.
"There's going to be a lot of consideration taken by the members of the parish and the diocese as decisions are made, and it's not going to be an easy one," he said. "It's going to be kind of painful."
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With files from Information Radio