By the St. Albans Masonry Task Force
St. Albans is downtown Ottawa’s oldest surviving church building and one of its most historic. Located in the downtown neighbourhood of Sandy Hill, the church’s original architecture was designed by Thomas Fuller, the architect of Canada’s original Parliament…”
The church’s construction began in 1867 and was completed in 1877. It has been the church home of many of Canada’s political leaders, including our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. (https://stalbanschurch.ca/about/history/ )
Since early 2022, clergy and parishioners at St. Albans have been seeking funds for necessary masonry work to keep their church safe for current and future users. These include parishioners at St. Albans; the French-language Anglican parish of St-Bernard housed in the same building; and Centre 454, a community ministry of the Anglican Diocese for those who are homeless or living in poverty. Centre 454 provides hospitality, practical support, social and recreational activities, and supportive counselling to an average of 150 people each day.
Through the generosity of the Diocese, the Anglican Foundation, the Build Heritage Grant and community members, past and present, St. Albans and St. Bernard have already raised $295,000 for the masonry work, but there is $35,000 left to raise. A kick-off event will be held on June 17 at the church.
According to St. Albans’ rector Rev. Michael Garner, “Over the last nine months, St. Albans has made important decisions to become a sustainable community across diversity, conviction, and identity; one that can be a spiritual home to many.” He continued: “Our building is an emerging community hub for the arts, two communities of worship, and ‘Belong Ottawa’ Centre 454. This masonry project will shore up our building and enable a thriving Anglican presence in Sandy Hill and Lowertown for the coming decades.”
St. Albans has also been purchasing carbon offsets and looking at how to reduce the carbon footprint of the building and parish.
People interested in contributing to the St. Albans masonry fundraising campaign can do so at https://stalbanschurch.ca/donate/ with charitable tax receipts issued for donations.