Just two hours before city council was set to vote on the controversial proposed Anglican Cathedral annex, the City of St. John’s posted a notice on its social media saying the Anglican Diocese was withdrawing its application.
The vote on the application was removed from the council agenda.
Paul Antle is chair of the committee tasked with finding a space for the Anglican Cathedral to do its ministry.
He explained why the application was withdrawn in a telephone interview with The Telegram after Monday evening’s council meeting.
“It’s very simple. I mean, there was an article published this morning in The Telegram that indicated that the city staff were not going to recommend approval to the council.
“So, that’s an indicator to us that not all parties involved in the project were comfortable with the design, so we decided to withdraw the application, go back to the drawing board, and revisit the process of how we got to where we are today and try to incorporate as much of those stakeholders’ concerns as we could — improve the process, and improve the design, and then bring it back to council.”
Mayor Danny Breen addressed the situation at the end of the council meeting, calling it a “frustrating” process. In a media scrum after the meeting, he explained what he meant in calling it frustrating.
“I think there was a lot of information that was out there, and it was really hard, you know, it was left to try to figure out what the regulations were, what the guidelines were from the federal government, what the provincial historic guidelines were, and then trying to bring that in to the city context.
“So, when the Anglican Diocese withdrew the application, they indicated that they’re going to be looking at this, doing something there again because they do need to have a facility.
“I suggested that before they do anything that we sit down with the various stakeholders around the table and make sure everybody is clear on what the regulations are, and what the different parties (who) have interests are at the table, so that we can start off with that understanding.”
Breen said the discussion might take place around mid-to-late September, and Antle estimated the first or second week of September.
Diocese committed to Cathedral location
Antle said the project is still going ahead but he can’t comment on a timeline. He also said the plan is to build in the same location next to the Cathedral.
“The alternative locations that were discussed have been vetted thoroughly by the Diocesan Committee, and by engineers and professionals, and the cost implications from going outside the envelope are significant, so our preference is to stay within the confines of the Cathedral property as it is – that’s our number one priority.”
Breen said he wasn’t surprised the application was withdrawn before council voted on it.
“They saw that there was no support, or very little support there for that application, and you never want to really go into that type of situation, so I commend them for their move and I think it gives a chance now to kind of clean the slate, and look at other options, and see where they want to go with this, and like I said, have that discussion.”
Breen acknowledged it is a challenge to keep church buildings going.
“We have to find out a way and work together in partnerships with various levels of government, and the churches, to make sure that these continue to be viable.”
Antle addressed that concern as well.
“The church is there to help people. The church is to service the living community, and that’s our goal and that’s what we need to do. I mean, this is very important to the future of the Anglican Diocese and to the Cathedral – very important to the financial ability of the Cathedral to remain this architectural icon that demonstrates the history of where we come from in our province, so it’s important.
“This is extremely important to the future, so people have to open their minds and open their hearts because of the role of the church in our community and what it does in the best interests of the entire community.”
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
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