Historic Preservation Laws Are Stopping This Historic Church From Preserving Itself

Montreal’s historic preservation laws may force one of its historic churches to close its doors.

Since 1878, St. John the Evangelist parish has operated out of its existing church building in Montreal’s downtown, where it’s earned the status of the mother church of Anglo-Catholicism in Canada. A few decades ago, needed repairs gave it the characteristic metal red roof it’s known for today.

“It’s a slum gothic style, it’s a very beautiful space inside,” says St. John’s pastor, Father Keith Schmidt.

The same can’t be said for the adjacent parish hall, which has seen better days. Once a school, the building is little-used now and in need of some desperate repairs.

The St. John’s congregation has also seen better days. Schmidt says that the parish hasn’t been immune to the general decline in church attendance in Quebec. With fewer active parishioners, the church has struggled financially.

That’s in contrast to the surrounding neighborhood, which has seen a boom of new development in recent years.

For that reason, St John’s has been toying with the idea of redeveloping its hall into a new building that could then be rented out on a long-term basis and the revenue used to support the church’s continued operations.

“It’s more staircase than anything else,” says Schmidt of the parish hall. “Everyone agrees that it doesn’t make any sense anymore, but trying to change it isn’t easy.”

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