Newfoundland Historic Trust Responds to Pending Sale of St. George's Church, Brigus

The Newfoundland Historic Trust is shocked and dismayed at the decision of the Anglican diocese of Eastern Newfoundland to accept the offer of a private American businessman to purchase the 127-year-old St. Georges Anglican Church in Brigus and reject a competing offer from a local heritage group.

(PRWEB) December 19 2003--The Newfoundland Historic Trust is shocked and dismayed at the decision of the Anglican diocese of Eastern Newfoundland to accept the offer of a private American businessman to purchase the 127-year-old St. Georges Anglican Church in Brigus and reject a competing offer from a local heritage group.

St. Georges Anglican Church is a 127-year-old landmark building in a community that is one of Newfoundland and Labradors richest in terms of architectural heritage. The St. Georges Heritage Committee, a non-profit corporation with broad-based support in the Town of Brigus and throughout the province, had presented the diocese with an offer to purchase the building that included a business plan for the ongoing maintenance and preservation of the structure as a public heritage resource.

The diocese rejected a model framework proposed by the community for the preservation and reuse of this historically and architecturally significant building," says Gerard Hayes, Trust board member. The fact that the decision was based on price, according to the diocese, and that it was taken without giving the local group an opportunity to match that price, is disturbing."

The efforts of the St. Georges Heritage Committee in garnering public support and developing its proposal are to be commended. It is unfortunate that the interest and wishes of the community that had supported St. Georges Anglican Church for 127 years seem to have been ignored," says Dale Jarvis, the Trusts President.

The Newfoundland Historic Trust believes that custodians of public buildings that have been built by public subscription should give special consideration to the communities that have supported and used those buildings, particularly where such buildings have acquired historical or cultural significance to those communities. The congregation of St. Georges Anglican Church has supported their church financially for almost 130 years. And in more recent times, the church has benefited from raising building funds through appeals to the general public, beyond its congregation. In apparently refusing to give due consideration to the proposal of the St. Georges Heritage Committee, it seems the Anglican diocese has breached its duty to its congregation, and to the general public in Brigus and throughout the province.

Contact: Gerard Hayes, Secretary and Interim Preservation Committee Chair, Newfoundland Historic Trust; tel (709)739-8703 (h); (709)737-5609 (w); ghayes@newfoundlandpower.com; or Dale Jarvis, President, Newfoundland Historic Trust tel (709) 739-1892; email info@heritagefoundation.ca

The Newfoundland Historic Trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of our provinces built heritage since 1966.

###