A church built in Edmonton’s Holyrood neighbourhood in 1958 will receive more than $50,000 in public funding towards its rehabilitation after being designated a historic resource.
The City of Edmonton announced the designation for St. Luke’s Anglican Church in a news release issued Monday.
“Historical designation protects the unique story and beauty of the building, its design and construction,” said Rev. Nick Trussell, the rector of the church.
“Funding for restoration and maintenance with this non-profit partner means that it continues to be available to the public for the flourishing of the neighbourhood.”
The city said the Holyrood church was one of the first in Alberta’s capital to avoid medieval design influence involving stone and “soaring ceilings” and to adopt a more modern look that mirrored the young neighbourhood around it at the time it was built.
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“The post-war years changed how people lived in Edmonton,” said Scott Ashe, a heritage planner with the city. “They had survived war and the depression. They had jobs and cars and wanted their families to spread out in the suburbs. They wanted to live away from where they worked, but still worship in their own communities.
“St. Luke’s is indicative of the kind of modern church built in those times.”
The building was designed by was designed by Kelvin Crawford Stanley, an Edmonton architect, whose other buildings in the city include the Paramount Theatre on Jasper Avenue.
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“Today the St. Luke’s building is home to three separate faith communities, a small Indigenous-owned-and-operated business, community league events, a weekly food bank depot and many other groups and events,” Trussell said.
For more information on Edmonton’s historic resource, click here.
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