BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
In the world of architecture and design, every new project usually starts with a concept. But when it comes to rebuilding an historic stone church that dates back decades before Confederation, the first step is asking the question: How should the scope of the concept be redefine and modernized?
That is what a group dedicated to seeing St. James Anglican Church rebuilt has asked hundreds of people in a very organized and deliberate way. And now, one year after flames ripped through the roof of the stone structure on Main Road in Hudson and destroyed an adjacent hall, they are pulling all that feedback together to ensure that what comes next meets the needs of today and tomorrow, while preserving what has been a big part of Hudson’s past.
“We are very excited about this project and the potential for the Hudson community and beyond,” said Marcus Owen, a volunteer who is overseeing the reconstruction of the church’s roof and the plan to replace the adjacent Memorial Hall that was destroyed last April. “It takes a village, and that’s who we’re engaging in the process.”
Owen has spearheaded an ambitious community consultation process that has included interviewing 200 individuals from both Hudson and neighbouring municipalities to do a deep dive on what community stakeholders need.
The goal is to rebuild what Owen calls “a community hub,” a place where people will be able to come together for a wide range of reasons, not just for religious services.
“There is a need in the community for more community space,” Owen said in an interview with The 1019 Report.
“It’s a beautiful building that needs to be preserved,” Owen said, but when it comes to its functionality, the focused has to be put on how it can be used today and into the future.
And that is the challenge the committees organizing the rebuilding project are weighing.
In the past weeks, work crews have been putting the final touches on a new roof atop the church, a stone structure that was originally completed in 1842. The cemetery just outside its doors dates back even further, to 1819. The graveyard is the oldest in Hudson and is the resting place of dozens of Canadian soldiers from the first and second world wars, including those who died in battle and veterans who returned home after the wars.
To the rear of the church is a large reception hall, the footprint of where Memorial Hall once stood and, off to the side, a manse. The grounds include a vast 10 acres, a portion offering incredible views of the Lake of Two Mountains, while fields of space lie on the south side of Main Road.
How can all of this be put in service to the community? How will the inside of the church be completed? Will it have traditional pews? Or, a more flexible interior space that can accommodate concerts and other events?
All the ideas put forward during the consultations have been tabulated and categorized with the help of an artificial intelligence tool. The emerging themes and priorities are what architects are now working with to produce a series of designs for both the church and plans for how a new Memorial Hall can be re-imagined.
“We want to rebuild the church so that it is of service to the community,” Owen said as he provided a peek inside the historic structure last week.
As work crews on the roof could be heard, he highlighted some of the work that has been completed inside to ensure the integrity of the structure – repairs to a brick archway and the impressive stonework that had been covered for decades now fully exposed, punctuated by the distinctive lancet window frames.
“The days of church being a place that everyone showed up to on Sunday with all their friends and neighbours are gone,” said Reverend Sophie Rolland. “One thing Hudson has always had, however, is a great community spirit and we want to capitalize on that in ways that simply haven’t been done before. It’s tremendously exciting and will bring people together.”