Ottawa Construction News staff writer
The former St. Brigid’s Church on St. Patrick Street in Ottawa is taking on a new life as an event space, and the city’s Built Heritage Committee has approved alterations to the building to reflect this change.
The pews, which are fixed in place and not accessible, will be removed from the nave of the church. They will be replaced with hardwood flooring. Some of the pews will be relocated to the basement for use in the pub and multipurpose room, while the remainder will be stored off-site while plans are made for their repurposing.
The church originally served the Irish Catholic working class of Lowertown. The building’s 1981 designation limited adaptive re-use to worship due to specific interior designation language. The interior was added to the designation to recognize its vaulted ceilings, polychromed walls, carved woodwork, pews, organ, altar and stained-glass windows.
At its meeting on Nov. 12, the committee also approved the designation of two historic red brick downtown churches at 152 Metcalfe St. and 249 Bronson Ave.
St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Metcalfe St. was constructed in 1880. The McPhail Memorial Baptist Church on Bronson, was built in 1893.
The committee received a report on a Heritage Community Improvement Plan Grant Program application for 70 Richmond Rd. The $500,000 grant allows the site to be redeveloped, adding 103 residential units. The alteration includes relocating and rehabilitating the former Champlain Oil Company Service Station on-site, integrating it with a proposed nine-storey mixed-use building featuring ground-floor retail and two levels of underground parking.
The historic building will be relocated temporarily, repositioned at the property’s front, and retained throughout the redevelopment.
The committee also approved designating 8 Robert Kemp St. under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The property qualifies for designation, meeting six of nine criteria. The house, on a corner lot in the Kempark subdivision, was originally built in 1958 for the Central Canada Exhibition (CCE) home lottery at Lansdowne Park. The 1958 fair’s grand prize was a house built for display before it was moved to its permanent location. Kempark includes five other CCE lottery homes relocated from Lansdowne Park.
Council will consider most of the committee’s items on Nov. 27.
