Over 100-year-old church designated heritage in Lowertown

The Église évangélique baptiste d’Ottawa is a designated heritage structure now protecting the building’s cultural importance and history from any drastic alteration.

The over 100-year-old building sits at 284 King Edward Ave. in Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood. The church meets seven of the nine items to qualify for the designation.

Reasons for designation

• It is rare unique of a style, type or construction method
• Value because it displays high degree technical or scientific merit
• Direct association with theme, event, belief, or institution that is significant to a community
• Historical value that contributed to understanding of community or culture
• Demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder who is significant to a community.
• Contextual value because it is important in defining, maintaining character of an area
• Physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings

It was first built in 1904 with larger additions added between 1919 and 1920, costing around $27,000. It is an example of church architecture influenced by Late Gothic Revival style, and designed by William James Abra, who owned “prolific” firms in the nation’s capital, the city notes in a press release.

The firm is responsible for designing more than 50 schools in eastern Ontario and various other hotels and apartment buildings, the report reads.

The church is one of the several early twentieth buildings on King Edward Avenue.

It is also a nod to the growth of evangelical Baptists in Ottawa and had a huge backer in Reverend George Rainboth MacFaul, who is responsible for establishing French Baptist missions in the Ottaway Valley.

“As the first French Baptists congregation in Ottawa, MacFaul and his supporters were
instrumental in establishing French Baptist missions in the Ottawa Valley,” a report reads.

Although the property was listed in the city’s heritage register in 2017, changes to the Ontario Heritage Act prompted council to designate the structure. Back and forth between council and the owner of the property meant that over this year the church was up for discussion frequently.

Planning staff met with the owner to understand possible redevelopment concepts, which ultimately the owner said they would like to sell the property alongside the adjacent lots to a developer.

“Heritage planning staff have agreed to continue to work collaboratively on a solution that recognizes the significance of the site, its redevelopment potential and potential barriers to redevelopment,” the report notes.