HISTORICALLY RELEVANT

Broadview Place, a Riverdale church built in the 1800s, has been put up for sale,

A historic Toronto church and one of the few buildings left designed by E.J. Lennox, the architect behind hits like Casa Loma and Old City Hall, is up for sale.

Broadview Place, which is at 296 Broadview Ave. in Riverdale and was constructed in 1894, could soon be sold.

The venue has been under the ownership of lawyer Marina Stefanovic since 2013. She’s been running it as a centre for “faith, arts and education” alongside her partner Alex Alexandrov, who’s also the site’s artistic director.

Stefanovic said in an interview they have a conditional offer to sell the property for about $3.5 million.

Stefanovic and Alexandrov said their plan since buying the property five years ago was to turn it into a community hub. Alexandrov is a musician from a family of musicians and passionate about arts programming.

“It happened organically from there on,” Stefanovic said. “It was never entirely a commercial endeavour.”

Since then, they’ve hosted several theatre productions, musical programs and let the place be used for film productions, occasionally renting it out for weddings.

They also let the Broadview Faith Temple Church continue holding their services in the space, which they’ve been doing since 1967.

Stefanovic said hosting religious and artistic groups is part of the reason she’s selling — the groups can’t afford fees for the venue, and the 124-year-old property needs intensive upkeep. “We didn’t think we would sell, but given all these factors we’ve decided that it’s time,” she said.

When they first started on renovations, Stefanovic said just replacing the hardwood floors cost nearly $100,000.

It was listed as a heritage property the same year she bought it, which restricts the materials and methods they can use to renovate.

But besides the costs, Stefanovic said running the place was essentially a full-time job that Alexandrov had taken on.

The building has always had a religious connection — the land on Broadview Ave. was bought by the Mount Zion Congregational Mission in January 1881, according to a City of Toronto heritage report.

The report describes the building as an “unusual but significant” example of a late 19thcentury church — the classic arched, pointed openings are paired with mock timber framing. It’s one of 70 Toronto landmarks designed by Lennox.

This isn’t the first time Stefanovic has tried to sell it.

A conditional offer for $4 million fell through earlier this year, she said.