Bill MacKenzie helps take care of 167-year-old St. John’s the Evangelist Anglican Church.
The congregation has outgrown the space and it is likely to be demolished. Since 2010, MacKenzie and others have worked toward finding a proposal for the Fredericton church property, but it’s been challenging.
The church, while not used and deconsecrated, has ties to the community and roots in the families who lived here in the past century.
“Some over here (stained-glass windows) are dedicated to great grandparents, or grandparents. You’ll see a lot of the stained-glass windows have dedications on the bottom so a lot of people feel attachment,” he said.
He said a few months ago, a couple came to the church because their family was buried in the cemetery. The couple asked to see inside the church, only to find one of the windows dedicated to another family member.
Many people remain attached to the church and feel it should be preserved.
However, the church has fallen into disrepair. There is mould in the basement that has spread to other parts of the church. The roof — at least part of it — has to be replaced at a cost of about $50,000.
MacKenzie said that assessment was done in 2019, and given the increased costs of building supplies, it’s likely 30 per cent more now.
It also costs to keep the lights and the gas on, he said.
Small number of proposals
The parish did try to get proposals to repurpose the property.
MacKenzie said the most recent set of seven proposals were small and brief — ultimately, not anything the group could hang their hats on. One of the seven was detailed, but was missing elements the parish council wanted.
“The other six are very brief, sort-of expressions of interest, so, like I said, one wanted to look at it as a home, others a workshop, storage, a music venue,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.
But MacKenzie admits the requirements were very specific and may have turned off some people.
It included the proponent paying for the rehabilitation of the building, with a bit of preference for non-profit organizations. The council was requiring a long-time lease.
MacKenzie said the parish council also didn’t want any VLTs, nor the sale of alcohol or tobacco.
The cemetery
No matter what happens, MacKenzie said, the cemetery must be maintained and protected. He said the church is surrounded on three sides by graves, including a few right up against the foundation.
Any proposal would have to contend with the gravesites.
“Given that it’s surrounded on three sides by a cemetery, we will have responsibility for perpetual care of that cemetery…. No matter what happens to this in the future, we had some concerns about what the future uses would be,” he said.
Generations of families are buried there, and it’s likely there are future burials planned in plots already purchased by parish members.
Demolition likely
Ultimately, MacKenzie believes the church being demolished is the sole option left.
Inside, the stained-glass windows depicting images and figures from the Bible will be preserved, as well as the window arches.
He said they’ll use some of the stones to build a historical memorial. MacKenzie said they’ll likely try to create a columbarium, which is a place where people’s ashes can be held.
“We have consensus, we don’t have unity. There is still a small core group that wants us to keep this,” he said. “We’ve been through 20 years getting to this point but over the last five or six … was sort of the trigger.”