Demolition Begins On Former Gothic Arches Church In Uptown Saint John
SAINT JOHN – A piece of Saint John’s history is coming down with demolition beginning Wednesday at the former Gothic Arches church on Princess Street.
The century-old building has been on the city’s dangerous and vacant buildings list for the past 10 years.
It was recently bought by local developer Percy Wilbur, who plans to turn the lot into an eight-storey “luxury” apartment building.
Wilbur, who bought and restored the historic building at the corner of Charlotte and Germain that now houses Jones Gallery and residential units on the upper floors, has been looking for other development opportunities in the city centre.
He investigated the possibility of preserving the Gothic Arches building, which is on the city’s dangerous and vacant buildings list, and had it inspected by architects and engineers from Moncton and Halifax. All of them said the Wentworth Street building, which has been deteriorating for decades and unheated for 10 years, is too far gone.
RELATED: Developer Will Tear Down Gothic Arches, Build Apartments For ‘Empty-Nesters’
“It’s literally falling down,” said Wilbur in an interview in October. “There are pieces of the towers that have separated from the building and they’re now leaning out towards the street to the point where my insurance company said…they might not even be able to insure it.”
Here’s a different angle, where you can see right inside the church. pic.twitter.com/4F4liZrbHf
— Danielle McCreadie (@danimccreadie) December 11, 2019
Hunter O’Hara, 6, was watching the building demolition with his mom after school Wednesday.
“It’s awesome! When they were tearing down up top off the door, there were big pieces falling down,” he said.
His mom Natalie says their family lives on Orange Street, and the church has been a fixture in their neighbourhood for decades.
Natalie says she and Hunter have been watching the smaller tear-down process for the last few weeks.
“I think it’s sad, but I understand. They tried to save it. I think for a lot of people it’s sad,” she said. “It’ll be interesting to see what comes up, but it’s sad to see it go. It’s a piece of history.”
Wilbur is still working on the final design for the building, but he says it will be between six- and eight-storeys high with 75-to-90 units, 1,000- to-1,400-square-feet each. It will have a gym, spa and common room. He wants the building to be welcoming and social, and he has creative ideas to give it that atmosphere.
“We want our building to be busy in the lobby so that people aren’t coming home to a cold, lonely building,” he said. “To keep it busy, it would be nice to have local lecturers come in and give talks about architecture or art history. We want it to be part of the community.”
Wilbur is targetting “empty-nesters” for this complex – late-middle-agers who want to downsize.
“There are people that want to move to the city core from Millidgeville and the Kennebecasis Valley,” said Wilbur. “I’ve spoken to a lot of them who are ’empty-nesters.’ They don’t need the big home, they don’t need the travel back and forth every day. But they need something that’s large and spacious and safe and secure in a nice neighbourhood. They’re willing to move [for the right place].”
Danielle McCreadie is a reporter with CHSJ/Country 94, a Huddle content partner.
With files from Mark Leger of Huddle.