Place Description
This Gothic influenced church hall is a rectangular shaped building with faux buttresses on the side elevations. It is wood framed with a gable roof and is located on the west side of Summer Street immediately north of the brick St. Mary's Anglican Church. Originally clad in asphalt slates, today it is clad in white vinyl siding.
Why is this place important?
The building has historical significance as the Parish Hall of one of Summerside's oldest congregations, that of St. Mary's Anglican Church. It contributes to the heritage streetscape of Summer Street and to the spiritual life of the community.
It was built in 1927 and took the place of a smaller wooden structure that had been built by Schurman Clark and Company in 1891 as a parish room or Guild Hall to serve the needs of the congregation. That early building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1906 along with the church and rectory.
Although the church was rebuilt in 1908, the issue of a parochial hall was not addressed until 1927 when funds became available. In August of that year, the congregation accepted the plans of local architect, George E. Baker. H.M. Downing was hired as the contractor and later that month, Mr. Downing was engaged to carry out the construction.
The excavation of the site was underway by September 1927. The frame construction measured 36 by 75 feet with a 5 by 10 entrance porch on the front of the building facing Summer Street. It was built on a concrete foundation and the sides as well as the roof were covered with "asphalt slates." The interior was finished in British Columbia fir and the layout consisted of a stage, two dressing rooms, kitchen and auditorium on the main floor. A ladies' parlour was built on a second level at the east end and classrooms were designed above the kitchen at the west end. When it officially opened, the hall was declared by the rector, Archdeacon White, to be of the very best workmanship and material.
Some aspects of the original building have been altered with the removal of the hood moulding around the windows, as well as the flag pole which once rose from the roof peak. Other interesting elements remain including the oculus windows in the gables and the tracery in the Gothic transom above the entrance in the vestibule.
The hall has continued to serve the needs of the congregation since that time and has also been rented out for various community activities and functions.
Source: City of Summerside, Heritage Property Profiles
Special Characteristics
The heritage value of the building is shown in the following character-defining elements:
- the rectangular massing and one-and-one-half storey wood frame construction
- the concrete foundation
- the faux buttresses of the side elevations
- the gable roof
- the brick chimney
- the original paired window fenestration although several windows have been replaced
- the round or oculus windows in the peaks of the gables
- the vestibule entrance with gable roof
- the Gothic pointed arch transom window with tracery over the entrance
