Danforth Church, Toronto
I heard an interview with a representative Mwarigha from Woodgreen Community Services about the redevelopment of a historic church in Toronto that had been for sale for some time While lots of church buildings have been repurposed or demolished because the congregations bit the dust, this one is different. The congregation has traded some of the value of the property to have the sanctuary restored so they can continue worshipping in this location and continue to provide outreach ministries. I found an article about this project in the Globe and Mail and here is an excerpt:
And WoodGreen, to their credit, thought it might be nice if the diminished congregation could still attend services in a retained portion of Siddall’s building and, further, that residents of the Danforth might like architectural continuity.
“We came to a fairly creative solution,” continued Mwarigha, who uses only one name. “WoodGreen will buy the land from you at a discounted rate; in exchange for the land, you will get 5,000 square feet of footprint in the building [and] on that footprint you will recreate the sanctuary and a smaller church space.”
That way, the church could also continue to provide meals to those in need and services to the community at large – “I actually did go to the church to attempt to become a tango dancer [but] that did not succeed,” Mwarigha laughed – and, by careful demolition and the insertion of an eight-storey tower, WoodGreen could provide 50 residential units for seniors.
“It is vibrating,” Mwarigha said with a smile. “The church is back in action, working to develop and facilitate the programs that they have traditionally provided during the week. On Sunday they’ve got the church service … and it’s open to tenants in the WoodGreen building … on the side door you see WoodGreen staff coming in … and all the interconnections between this integrated approach to social housing … and you see marker events happening, be it open houses, Christmas parties, Canada Day events.
This is an impressive partnership and given that thousands of congregations are in their last days across the country this use of property makes so much sense.In the CBC Radio interview Mwarigha was respectful about the history of this faith community.
Here is my one quibble with the conversation. The church was never identified, and after a search online I discovered that it began as Chester Baptist Church on the Danforth, then became Danforth Baptist Church, and eventually Danforth Church.
This was once the congregation of one of Ruth's sisters and her husband when they were young, as were many of the group of people who were attempting to provide an alternative congregational life in the heart of the city. Martha was the lead singer for a band that included Fergus Marsh, one of the musicians who played regularly with Bruce Cockburn. The church had a downstairs coffee house on Friday nights and we went on an evening when Fergus and Hugh, his brother, were in the band. Cockburn showed up because of his connection with the two of them.
I've noticed that often now news outlets write or speak about churches without using their names, let alone their denominations. This happens regularly in local reporting. They wouldn't do so with individuals or even with other institutions, it seems to me. We realize that we are in a largely secular society yet it doesn't take much to be respectful of what these places or worship and community service have represented and in some instances still want to be.
Woodgreen Community Services Redevelopment of Danforth Church
No comments:
Post a Comment