Article by Laura McKay, on behalf of Heritage Winnipeg Corp.

To follow up on this or any other articles on the blog, contact Heritage Winnipeg's Executive Director.

North facade of St. Giles ca. 1999. Photo courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

The church building at 294 Burrows Avenue has been in the news a great deal in the last week or so, as the c urrent cong regation applies for delisting the property, essentially removing i ts heritage designation and any prote ction that may pro vide.

Here is some ba ckground information to give you an idea as to wha t all the fuss is about!

In the News

History

Gallery seating ca. 1999. Photo courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

The church on Burr ows Aven u e is the legacy of the Kildonan community, which in the late 1800s mostly consisted of Scottish settlers and their immediate descen dents. The North Presbyterian Mission of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was f ormed in 1884 to meet th e spiritual needs of this community. Meeting in Bishop's Stor e, a 2-storey frame building at t he corner of Main Street and Burrows Avenu e, the miss ion was supported by the students of the Manitoba College ( one of the founding colle ges of the Univer sity of Manitoba, establi shed by a Presbyterian minister in 1871 ) and drew heavi ly from the s urrounding area.





The first church building constructed by the mission, dedicated in 1886, was on the corner of Main Street and Limit Avenue. Image courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

Not long after it had begun, it became clear that the mission needed more space for its growing membership. In 1886, a small frame building was constructed a t the co rner of Main Street and Limit Avenue (now Aberdeen) but this too, was quickly out gr own , and within two years, plan s were once again in the works f or a new church .





The congregation 's new brick church, St . Giles Presbyterian on Selkirk Avenue, was dedicated on Sunday, Dec ember 1, 1889. Still , the congregation gre w, f orcing the expansion of the facility before they once again began to look at building a new place of worship.





The second church building, dedicated in 1889, was on Selkirk Avenue. Image courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

With the growth of the congregation, 36 famili es decided to break off to form the St. John's con gregation, which hel d services in a fram e house of wor ship at 25 0 Cathedral Avenue u ntil the construction of St. John's Presbyterian (United) Church in 1923. This church was later converted to a mul ti-unit hous ing cooperative in the late 1980s.





The former St. John's Presbyterian (United) Church, ca. 1988. Photo courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

In 1906, the Building Committee selected a new site at the corner of B urrows Avenue and Charles Street. A church building already on the s ite was moved just to the west of the newly plan ned church to be used as a manse, the residence of the minister. Architect Charles S. Bridg man, a New York -trained local , was hi red f or the job along with contractor Imperial Plumbing & Building Company.





Architect's plans for the "Main Church Floor". Image courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

The cornerstone ceremony was held on July 25, 1907 with the new and final church dedicated on March 15, 1908 . The congregation numbered nearly 500 at the time and promi sed to continu e to g row. The new church was designed to seat 1100 people at one time, with a basement fea turing Sunday School, Bible Class, and Infant Class rooms and even a small gym.





Built in the Lat e Gothic or Modern Gothic style, the church ref lects the Gothic trad itions that came before but with simpler silhoue ttes and more subdued ornamentation tha n so me of the earlier Gothic Reviv al a rchitecture.





The Tier Building at the University of Manitoba, built in 1932, is another example of Late or Modern Gothic architecture, which is also known as Collegiate Gothic because of its frequent use on university campuses. Photo courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

Along with many o ther churches, the cong regation of St. Giles voted to join the United Church of Canada, becoming St. Giles United Church in 1925. Wit h a considerable congregation , the church boas ted on e of the largest Sunday School program in the city at the time . Ho wever, by th e 60s , membership was in decline as the demographics of the local community change d , and in the early 70s the United Church M ission Board with drew its annual $6000 grant . Shortly thereafter, the modest congregation of 100 mostly First Nations and Metis members was for ced to disband.





East and north facades ca. 1999. Photo courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Historical Report.

In March 1973 the buil ding was sol d to a new congregation and became the Elmwood Bethel Mennonite Ch urch. When that church too disbanded in 1995, the building was given to the congregation of the Bethlehem Aboriginal Fellowship, a Baptist community that worshipped there until very re cently. Designated in 1999, the former St. Giles Presbyterian (United) Chu rch i s a lan dmark testifying t o the da ys of Winnipeg's cre ation and the Scottish Selkirk S ettlers that were an integral part of shaping our communi ty.

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