An underpass built beneath the historic Church of the Holy Trinity to enhance access to the Toronto Eaton Centre has caused the walls of the church to crack, a legal claim filed in Ontario Superior Court alleges.

The Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Toronto, which owns the property at 21 Trinity Square where the church has stood since 1847, is seeking $2 million in damages from the Cadillac Fairview Corp., which owns and operates the mall on behalf of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

The cracking began after 2004, when a second underpass was put into use in concert with a tunnel beneath the church that was dug during construction of the Eaton Centre in the late 1970s, according to the claim.

The tunnels are used by trucks making deliveries to businesses at the Eaton Centre.

“The Synod states that it was reasonably foreseeable that the design, construction and use of the underpass, in such close proximity to the church, would cause damage to the church,” according to the claim, filed in April.

While the lawsuit has been registered with the court, it has not yet been legally served.

“We haven’t served it because we’re hopeful we can sit on the same side of the table and resolve it,” said Robert Kennaley, of Kennaley Construction Law, representing Holy Trinity.

“We want to give the negotiation process a chance to work.”

A spokesperson for Cadillac Fairview declined to comment on the matter because it is subject to potential litigation.

The cracks are clearly visible inside the church, which still ministers to the community, including many of the homeless in the downtown core. It still holds two services on Sunday and one on Wednesday. It is a tourist attraction, rated by Lonely Planet as a top stop for travellers.

Sherman Hesselgrave, parish priest, said the cracks were repaired and the foundation reinforced, and the problem seems to have abated for the time being.

The church is seeking to recover the cost of the repairs, he said.

“The engineers said to leave it for a year to make sure there is no further settlement before patching the cracks,” said Hesselgrave.

He said the repairs included putting 15 50-foot screws into the bedrock beneath the corner of the church where the cracks are. Then a concrete table was built on top of the screws, which the foundation now sits on.

“It’s basically sitting on bedrock — or connected to bedrock now — so there hasn’t been any additional settlement,” he said.

For many years, the neighbourhood around the church was a slum occupied by struggling Irish immigrants. The church built the Mary Lambert Swale public housing on Jarvis St., now under City of Toronto management, said Hesselgrave. More recently, the church has sponsored 130 refugees in Canada.

It also maintains a homeless memorial, to remember the names of those who have died on the streets in Canada.

According to the wishes of its founder, Mary Lambert Swale, it remains free and open to the public.

According to the statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court, in the late 1970s, the Eaton Centre and related developments were constructed around the church premises, including a tunnel that serviced two underground truck loading docks facilities, located at the north and south ends of the mall.

In the early 1980s, the claim says, the corporate predecessors of Cadillac Fairview decided a second tunnel or underpass would be constructed to provide access to the original tunnel, in a location below and beside the church’s foundations and footings, below grade on the church premises.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The Synod granted an easement for the construction and use of the underpass and it was designed and constructed in about 1991. The underpass was not put into use until June 2004.

Although the agreement called for the companies to reimburse the Synod for the cost of monitoring the status of the church in the aftermath of the underpass coming into permanent use, they refused to do so after Oct. 31, 2007, according to the claim.

“Thereafter, and over time, the church gradually began to exhibit signs of distress, cracking and settlement . . . the cause(s) of which were unknown,” according to the document.

By the spring of 2015, it was clear that repairs were needed, according to the claim.

“The Synod now states that the problems arose as a consequence of the design, construction and use of the underpass.”