Stacked townhouse pitched to replace iconic Nova Scotian church

WINDSOR, N.S. — An iconic Windsor landmark may soon be demolished to make way for a stacked townhouse.

The former Windsor United Baptist Church, which dates back to 1898, has sat vacant since the congregation bid farewell to the historic property in November 2019.

Michael Jamieson, the owner of an audio and lighting productions company, then purchased the property, looking to repurpose the building.

In 2020, he sought a rezoning from West Hants Regional Municipality so that he could convert one half of the building to a mix of residential and business offices, and “preserve the other half of the building, where the church services have been held, to train staff members (on) how to use audio equipment and lighting and for indoor entertainment uses such as musical performances and theatre shows,” said a staff report to council.

The municipality granted the rezoning to general commercial.

Jamison died in May 2022 before he could see this vision through to fruition.

A developer is now proposing another vision for 411 King St.

“The application is to allow a proposed 18-unit stacked townhouse by development agreement,” West Hants planner Alex Dunphy told council on Oct. 24.

Dunphy recommended council hold a public hearing to approve the development agreement, outlining why it meets the municipality’s criteria.

Edward Edelstein, of Eco Green Homes, applied for the development agreement in July. Dunphy said the stacked townhouse would be three storeys high and the municipality would require a minimum of one vehicle parking space per dwelling unit. He noted the developer intends to keep the steeple.

“This property abuts a number of residential uses and is also located nearby the Windsor community centre and a restaurant,” Dunphy said.

The decommissioned church is situated on a prime location on King Street, an arterial road through Windsor, across from Victoria Park.

Questions 

A public information session was held in September to initially engage the public on the project.

“Some comments we received from this meeting include concerns with walkable connectivity, parking reduction, marshland sensitivity, previous construction causing water damage, infrastructure upgrades, right of way on the subject lot, infrastructure costs, water runoff and flooding, financials for Phase 1 and demolition of the existing church,” Dunphy said.

In 2019, when the Baptist congregation was preparing to move, there was concern expressed in the community that the church would be demolished. At the time, Thomas Pierce, who was a history major at Acadia University in Wolfville, was lobbying to preserve the church and launched an online petition.

“The fact of the matter is it’s a major historical site in the centre of town; it’s literally the heart of the community, physically speaking,” Pierce told SaltWire in 2019.

He likened demolishing the church would amount to “the permanent defacing of the town that you could not get back.”

At council’s October 2023 meeting, Coun. Jeff Hartt asked about the property’s historic value.

“Can you confirm that the church was never designated as a historic site?” he asked.

Sara Poirier, the director of planning, said it is not registered as a heritage property municipally, provincially or federally.

“It’s quite a shock to lose such an iconic building in the town of Windsor,” Hartt said.

Phase 1

The proposal only deals with one portion of the 2.8-acre property. Dunphy said the developer wanted to split the project into two phases, with Phase 1 consisting of the demolition of the church and building of the stacked townhouse. Phase 2 is more complex as the back of the property has environmental constraints.

“Phase 2, which includes two six-storey apartment buildings, may be developed in the future, however that will require an amendment to the proposed development agreement and a separate application and public process,” Dunphy’s report to council noted.

“The majority of the subject lot is within the environmental constraints overlay of the zoning map” of Windsor’s land use bylaw (WLUB), his report noted.

“In accordance with the WLUB, the developer will be required to provide an environmental study for any development within this area. The front portion of the subject lot along King Street, where Phase 1 is proposed, is outside of this area. Therefore, (we) will not be requiring the developer to submit an environmental study at this time.”

Coun. Jim Ivey had a few questions about the environmental restrictions on the property.

“So, approving Phase 1 does not automatically beget Phase 2,” Ivey said.

The public hearing for Phase 1 at 411 King St. is Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. in West Hants council chambers. After which, council can entertain second reading to permit the development agreement.