Community rallies for 130 more years of St. George’s
As years go by, historical buildings tend to vanish from communities as their age catches up with them or they are renovated to keep up with modern requirements. This leaves communities with few of the buildings first erected by settlers.
Not wanting their own home to succumb to time, the parish of St. George’s Anglican Church is fundraising to shore up one of Wilmot Township’s oldest buildings so that it will be around in one century’s time.
“Knowing we can keep this building standing for another 130 years is the important priority,” said Rev. Margaret Walker, explaining that while the church was built 1888, it remains in solid shape.
However, a recent assessment of churches throughout the Anglican diocese showed that there are areas that need to be looked at, with the big one being repointing the foundation to keep out water.
“They did such fantastic work we haven’t had to worry about it, but after 130 years it needs to be repointed,” said Walker, adding that the brickwork and roof need looking after as well.
This would be followed by smaller projects like new lighting in the parish hall and painting and reinforcing the area around the stainedglass windows.
“As a result of that (assessment) a number of parishes in the Anglican diocese found they can’t go forward because of the costs, but we’re very committed to New Hamburg, so we’re undertaking an ambitious capital project,” said Gail Cuthbert Brandt, St. George’s rector’s warden.
She said the parish plans to raise $25,000 every year for the next five years in order to get the structural issues taken care of.
If everything goes well, foundation work will start in the fall and take two to three years to complete, depending on whether any new problems surface when construction workers get a closer look. Work on the rest of the building and some esthetic improvements will start once the foundation is made solid once more.
Given that $19,000 has been pledged since a fundraising campaign was announced in May, church staff are confident they will be able to keep their own piece of local history going for generations to come.
“For as long as possible, we’d like to keep (St. George’s) because we value our heritage, and this is an important part of New Hamburg’s heritage,” said Brandt.
She also emphasizes some key points of history related to the building, with arguably the biggest being that Frank Darling is the architect behind St. George’s.
Best known for designing the Hockey Hall of Fame, Darling is a famous Canadian architect who designed many of the University of Toronto’s buildings, banks and hospitals across the nation, often in the neo-Gothic style he favoured.
Less remarked upon are the churches he helped design, with St. George’s design being one he donated.
The proceeds of an anniversary dinner celebrating 180 years of Anglican worship in the area will go to the renovation project. It will be held on Oct. 19. Tickets are $25, and can be reserved by calling 519-6623450.