New Development Update

Trinity unveils plans for church site development

Roger Varley

Kindred Words, the development arm of the United Church of Canada, presented council Monday with plans for the development of the site of the former Trinity United Church. The church was demolished earlier this year after being badly damaged by the tornado that hit town in 2022.

Carly Forrester presented a slide show detailing the proposed development, which will include two six-storey residential apartment buildings and a low-rise community centre. One of the apartment buildings will front onto Main Street and one will be set in the middle of the grounds. The community centre would front onto First Avenue. Unfortunately, all of Kindred Works’ diagrams identified First Avenue as Albert Street.

An artistic rendering of the Trinity building from the proposed town square.

Forrester said the new buildings will contain architectural elements that will be reminiscent of Trinity United Church, from brickwork to arches that set off the church’s windows. The rose window that adorned the front of the church will be recaptured in the design of a common gathering area between the two apartment buildings.

The residential buildings would provide 105 living units, with one-third of the units priced below market value. More than half the units would be one-bedroom suites, 43 would be two-bedroom units and four would be three bedrooms. Parking would provide 95 spaces and the parking would be underground.
Forrester said work still needs to be done on the community centre proposal, but added it likely would contain a church area of some kind. She said the whole proposal is designed to fit in with and complement plans the township is making for the revitalization of the downtown area.

A diagram showing what elements of the former Trinity United Church would be incorporated into the new building.

Councillors were mainly receptive to the proposal, although Councillor Todd Snooks said he would like to see the upper storeys of the apartment buildings set back instead of having the building facades go straight up. Deputy mayor Willie Popp said the presentation is a “prime example” of the kind of attention to detail needed for the downtown revitalization.

Regional councillor Bruce Garrod made a detailed motion to accept the proposal, including allowing the buildings to reach six storeys, and to forward the proposal to the Downtown Revitalization Committee and staff for study.