An aerial view of the fire damaged St. Anne's Anglican Church in Toronto on June 10. Experts say large-scale financing will be required to make reconstruction possible.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
The rector of a historic church in Toronto’s west end that was gutted by fire says they will rebuild, but he acknowledged the long road ahead and the need for outside help to make that happen.
Rev. Don Beyers addressed the future of St. Anne’s Anglican Church on Monday while standing in front of the rubble left by a four-alarm fire the day before, destroying everything aside from the building’s façade – including more than 16 murals painted by members of Canada’s Group of Seven and other art.
“We’re still trying to figure out next steps, but we intend to rise again and work towards rebuilding,” Father Beyers said. “We are asking for people to support in any way they can.”
The church is accepting donations through its Canada Helps page, though experts say large-scale financing will be required to make reconstruction possible.
The fire in the city’s Little Portugal neighbourhood gutted the building early Sunday morning. The fire is not being investigated as suspicious because the cause is not yet known, Toronto police said.
Father Beyers said the impact of the fire has been felt well beyond the church community.
“People are devastated. This has been an incredibly painful moment for us.
“This church was loved, not just by the churchgoers but also by the community – it’s been a beacon of hope, a place of arts, people are feeling extraordinary pain at this time.”
As investigators work to determine the cause of a devastating fire at a historic Toronto church, community members are mourning the loss of a sacred space that housed unique artwork by members of the Group of Seven.
The Canadian Press
St. Anne’s was built in the early 1900s and received heritage status from the City of Toronto in 1996.
On Monday, smoke still clung in the air around the gutted church façade, which cradled piles of blackened beams and charred debris. Though the flames were gone, fire trucks remained on site, as onlookers stopped to take in the startling scene. One community member folded over in tears.
Beyond serving as a place of worship, St. Anne’s was a community hub and heritage site. Every third Sunday of the month, the church hosted community dinners. It also made space for concerts and farmer’s markets. Hours before the fire on Saturday afternoon, the church hosted a free concert featuring the St. Anne’s choir.
“Outside, it doesn’t look that special, but you go inside and it’s just gorgeous,” said Liz Frederisksen, a local resident who attended several community concerts at the venue over the years.
“The ceiling, the domes – my partner and I were just gawking.”
Scott Weir, an architect specializing in heritage site revitalization, says rebuilding St. Anne's will require a large financial outlay and private investors.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Looking over the destroyed church on Monday, she remembered the time the parish hosted a farmer’s market during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They weren’t allowed to have the market in person, so the church gave their space to the market to prepare the boxes for contactless pickup. It helped farmers from all across the GTA maintain their business and their income.”
Rebuilding will require a large financial outlay and private investors, said Scott Weir, a principal with ERA Architects who specializes in heritage site revitalization.
“Often, there needs to be a patron who gets behind a project like this,” Mr. Weir said. “It’s significant money to do a reconstruction of this size.”
The first step is outlining the goals of the restoration, he said: “Is it to build a copy of the structure to be reproduced so people can understand the point of the art in that space? Or is it to rebuild something that serves the community in the same way?”
Mr. Weir said there’s plenty of archival documentation to complete a faithful restoration. “It’s a great building, a really interesting Neo-Byzantine piece of architecture – a place that works as a cultural device.”
A rehabilitation approach would involve looking at the remains, the façade, the towers and understanding how to stabilize those while incorporating new art and interior. The artwork, though impossible to redeem, can be substituted by pieces from local Canadian artists, Mr. Weir said.
He cited a number of architectural fires in recent memory with art collections destroyed, ”and in some cases they’ve been fully reconstructed: the Borsen fire in Copenhagen, Glasgow school of art, Notre Dame, Windsor castle.”
But what most of those restoration efforts have in common, Mr. Weir said, are wealthy patrons.
“This is a church like many others in the city, many of them have declining enrolment, they have fewer parishioners – there’s not a lot of money for heritage preservation outside of large donors.”
Despite the challenges ahead, the message from Father Beyers remains one of hope.
“We will rise from the ashes stronger and even more committed to our mission to be a church for all people,” he wrote in a letter to the community on Monday.
“Yesterday’s fire was not the end of the story, but rather the beginning of a new chapter.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that Scott Weir is a principal with ERA Architects.