https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2015/09/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html
Friday, 18 September 2015
David Raymond Amos Versus The Crown T-1557-15
166-year-old Fredericton 'gem' faces possible demolition
St. John the Evangelist Church was built on Main Street in 1855 and deconsecrated last month
The former St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church on Main Street needs a new roof, and provincial officials have found dangerously high levels of mould inside the building.
It's also surrounded by gravesites that lie within inches of its walls, and there's little room to create parking next to the building.
However, in a bid to keep the 166-year-old building standing, congregation members, in collaboration with the Fredericton Heritage Trust, have issued a request for proposals in the hopes that a charity or non-profit will repurpose the deconsecrated church.
"The Fredericton Heritage Trust approached us with what we feel is a very constructive approach, and offering to help us with a process that they would have more experience with than us," said Bill MacKenzie, a warden with the church.
Arches
framing the old church's windows could be used as part of a memorial to
the building if it ultimately gets demolished, said St. John the
Evangelist Anglican Church warden Bill MacKenzie. (Aidan Cox/CBC)
The two groups are calling for a proposal that would see the building leased out on a long-term basis, with the proponent taking the responsibility to rehabilitate and maintain it going forward.
The request for proposals also comes with the condition that "any tenant must ensure that no alcohol, cigarette, or other like substances will be sold or served on the premises."
MacKenzie said the ideal applicant would be a charity or nonprofit that does community outreach, historical work or promotes the arts.
"With enough resources that … the building would not continue to be a financial burden on the congregation."
Part of the basement contains exposed earth, which has been blamed for
the mold problems now plaguing the church building. (Aidan Cox/CBC)
A part of city's Loyalist past
The St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church was built in 1855 and consecrated the year after by Rt. Rev. Bishop John Medley, the same man who consecrated the Christchurch Anglican Cathedral and St. Anne's Anglican Chapel of Ease on the city's south side.
The church served Anglicans in the Nashwaaksis area for over a century, until the parish decided to build a new and bigger church across the street, which has been the primary place of worship since 2002.
The old church was deconsecrated last month.
The
former St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church served as the primary
place of worship for the congregation from 1856 until a new church was
built in 2002. (Aidan Cox/CBC)
Jeremy Mouat, president of the Fredericton Heritage Trust, said the church's construction followed the wave of British Loyalists who moved north following the American Revolution.
"The Anglican Church was a key entity associated with the colonial government and playing a really significant role," he said.
Mouat said he holds the old St. John the Evangelist church in similar esteem to the two other old stone-cut Anglican churches on the city's south side.
To have it demolished, he said, would be a significant loss for the city's heritage.
"We only have to walk around the downtown plat from the cathedral in the green to the downtown, to see … how important those churches are.
"And St. John the Evangelist over the north side is just is a gem, and it would be, be really tragic if we lost it, if we couldn't come up with a better use than to tear it to pieces."
Graves
are set just inches away from the old church building, which church
warden Bill MacKenzie says would make any foundation work difficult. (Aidan Cox/CBC)
The deadline to submit proposals is July 31, at which time the church will consider them and make a decision by the end of August, MacKenzie said.
If no appropriate proposals are received, the church will be demolished and a memorial will be erected in its place.
The adjacent cemetery will remain unaffected by the request for proposals, or any potential demolition, he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
"[Anglican Journal (Anglican Church of Canada)] An unaudited financial statement released to Council of General Synod (CoGS) from the church’s financial management committee shows investment income helping propel General Synod to a surplus of about $3.6 million — on a total budget of $8.6 million — for 2021."
While it looks like a church, and to people that have been to in the past it was a church but it has been deconsecrated by the church so it no longer is a church. Just an older building that has been neglected for years,
There no longer is a religious component to this building.
St. John the Evangelist Church
74 Main Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3A, Canada
Formally Recognized: 2007/12/10
Other Name(s)
n/a
Links and documents
Construction Date(s)
1856/01/01
Listed on the Canadian Register: 2009/07/20
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
St. John the Evangelist Church, with its adjacent cemetery, is situated on the south side of Main Street on the north side of Fredericton. Bishop John Medley consecrated the “little stone church”, its construction based upon John Henry Hokeswell’s design plans, in 1856.
Heritage Value
The construction of St. John the Evangelist Church represents Bishop John Medley’s influence and his ecclesiastical vision for New Brunswick. Bishop Medley, who arrived from England in 1845, intended to spread Anglicanism throughout New Brunswick with the construction of Gothic Revival churches.
The heritage value of St. John the Evangelist also resides in its construction material and style. A Gothic Revival church built of stone was rare in New Brunswick at the time of its construction during the mid-1850s. The church, which was originally intended to be built of wood, was constructed using local stone. This church reflects Bishop Medley’s intertwining of architecture and sacred space. When Bishop Medley consecrated St. John the Evangelist in March 1856, he described the church as a “gem of architecture”.
The construction of this church demonstrates the liturgical needs of the local community. Discussion concerning the construction of a church began in 1851, when it was decided that families in the lower part of Douglas Parish had for too long been “destitute of church privileges”. The original plans, which were drawn in 1852, were altered in 1853 by John Henry Hokeswell of London, England and called for a stone church. One particular family played a prominent role in the construction of the church. The Robinsons, who were descended from Loyalist stock and owned considerable property between Nashwaaksis and Douglas, provided both the land and the stone necessary for the construction. Major Fred Robinson and his wife donated the land upon which the church was constructed, and a quantity of stone had been culled from the Robinson family quarry. In 1897, Beverly A. Robinson and his wife deeded a parcel of land on the lower side of St. John the Evangelist as a burial plot for his Lordship H.T. Kingdon, Bishop of Fredericton.
Source: City of Fredericton Historic Places Files, “St. John the Evangelist Church”
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements associated with the Neo-Gothic style of St. John the Evangelist church include:
- manicured lawn and grounds;
- adjacent cemetery;
- one-and-a-half storey local stone structure;
- period furnishings inside the church include a butternut altar, chancel chairs, and pulpit in Gothic Revival style;
- small stone font inside the church;
- original entrance porch on the north side of the church;
- single lancets along the nave;
- double lancet windows at eastern and western ends of structure;
- original glass in the double lancet window at the eastern end of the structure;
- the small, inset, four sided star window, positioned above the double lancet window at the western end of structure.
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