CentreVenture signs agreement to support study on restoring historic downtown Winnipeg church

An agreement has been made to begin a study on the possibility of restoring a historic downtown Winnipeg church threatened with demolition.

CentreVenture Development Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding to fund the first phase of a heritage restoration study at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, a more than 140-year-old church at the corner of Smith Street and Graham Avenue, near both the Canada Life Centre and Millennium Library.

The church, built in 1883-84, needs an estimated $7 million in repairs due to significant structural issues.

The agreement was signed with the Parish of Holy Trinity, the Diocese of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada, Monteyne Architecture and CentreVenture, a Friday news release from the development agency said.

"This is extremely exciting," executive archdeacon Simon Blaikie said in an interview.

"The building is very important to the diocese, as it is to the parish, and there are significant structural issues that need to be resolved if the parish is going to continue to exist in the future."

Blaikie called the deal "phase one of hopefully a much larger project" to restore the church.

"The parish has a beautiful building, architecturally, both inside and out, and they're involved in various ministries, with feeding people and clothing people in the downtown area."

In a news release, Mayor Scott Gillingham called the church "a landmark of Winnipeg's history and a key piece of our downtown."

Under the agreement, CentreVenture — an arm's-length City of Winnipeg development agency focused on downtown projects — has committed to funding up to half of the cost of a feasibility study into stabilizing and restoring the building, which is a designated National Historic Site of Canada and a protected historical building in Winnipeg.

CentreVenture's president and CEO, Rochelle Squires, told CBC News the agency would contribute $107,000 toward this phase of the project.

"We've had a long relationship with Holy Trinity and we are also deeply committed to seeing that church remain part of the community. It is an integral part of our downtown," Squires said.

The church has significant structural damage, including water damage and cracks that creep up the walls around the altar and elsewhere in the building.

In an annual report released last year, the parish said it has been aware since the late 1980s that "major repairs to build a foundation under the historic church would be necessary to avoid a collapse."

When Holy Trinity was built, it was not uncommon for buildings in Winnipeg to be constructed without foundations.

Without the repairs, "structural failure and/or the building being condemned is likely a matter of months to a few years at most," an April 2024 post on the diocese's website said. 

The first phase of the rehabilitation study will be led by Monteyne Architecture and includes building monitoring, surveying, conditions assessment, environmental and hazardous materials assessments, geotechnical investigation, structural analysis and preliminary design of a new foundation, CentreVenture's release said.