Where the first Roman Catholic cemetery in St. John’s once sat on Long’s Hill, there’s now a parking lot.
“I don’t see a great deal of respect shown to people who we buried there when hundreds of cars drive over that area every single day,” said Rev. Derrick Bishop of the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist to a gathered crowd at the cathedral Thursday evening.
A public meeting was held so the city could gather public input on a controversial proposed annex to be built next to the cathedral at the top of a hill where thousands of people are buried.
“Just keep that in mind. There are places around the city where this has happened before.”
By “this” Bishop was referring to building over cemeteries.
Karen Bearns approached the mike shortly after Bishop. She said what happened with Long’s Hill was “terrible.”
The self-described “regular townie” held the mike with shaking hands as she spoke.
“It’s wrong because people didn’t stop it then.”
The large crowd applauded.
“I’m upset – you can see I’m upset – but I’m not going to hide it because I care about my city.”
The sometimes-heated public meeting was held at the request of the City of St. John’s as a way to hear the many varied views on the proposed annex before a council vote on Aug. 5.
Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary told The Telegram that if the design is rejected, the current annex proposal will not proceed. The proponent would need to submit another proposal with another design.
If the current proposal is approved, O’Leary said the proponent would proceed to seek development approval from the city, which would include considerations such as parking.
The proposed annex would house offices, a kitchen and space for functions and outreach work, and a café. It would also have a lift, making it accessible unlike the old Cathedral Parish Hall which the annex is replacing, and which is in poor condition.
Support for the annex
Several parishioners of the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist spoke in support of the annex.
At age 43, Hugh Donnan said he’s been a parishioner his entire life and has seen a lot of positive developments there in recent years, such as an open house during Christmastime in which
anyone from the community is welcome for a hot bowl of soup, coffee, and a warm place to gather.
Donnan said the annex will facilitate more such outreach work.
“It’s going to allow us to reach out to the downtown in ways we’ve never been able to before.”
For example, the soup served at that open house has to be cooked elsewhere and brought to the church. With a new facility boasting a kitchen, they could do that in-house.
Archdeacon Roger Whelan, rector of the cathedral, said the diocese supports and provides space for a variety of community groups, such as Home Again Furniture Bank, the Safe Harbour Outreach Project, and Roots of Empathy.
“We want to be able to continue to support these various agencies in the community, and grow with our partnerships. To accomplish that role, we need to have more space that is appropriate to the needs of the community.”
Myriad of concerns, and a solution
An important point to be made is that council is tasked only with voting on the design of the building – something which was brought up several times by O’Leary, who chaired the public meeting.
Historian Robert Sweeny – a vocal critic of the proposal – was the first to speak at the meeting. He argued that his concern about the cemetery and the number of people buried there is a design concern because the building is designed to be built atop a burial ground.
He previously estimated in an interview with The Telegram that there are upwards of 20,000 people buried in the cemetery. Church records indicate a number closer to 5,000.
Whether there’s 20,000 people, 5,000, or just one person buried there – any number is too many for Clayton Arnold from the parish of All Saints in Foxtrap.
“I’m troubled to no end,” he said.
There were other concerns raised besides the potential to disturb graves, although test pits under the supervision of an archeologist have found no bones.
Located next to the cathedral is the Masonic Temple. Co-owner Kathie Hicks said she’s concerned that the annex will mean losing six parking spaces for the cathedral, and worsen parking in an area where she said it’s already difficult.
She made a suggestion that could alleviate many of the expressed concerns: Hicks pitched the idea of the diocese building a pedway across the street to use her building instead of constructing the annex.
However, she said she would need to consult her business partner.
Parks Canada guidelines not met
Hicks’ suggestion speaks to a point raised by Heather MacLellan at the public meeting.
MacLellan is a retired Parks Canada superintendent and past assistant deputy minister of culture and heritage in the province.
She believes many parts of Parks Canada’s guidelines for the conservation of historic places are not met with the proposed annex.
“It says if you have a building that’s in a historic place, like a historic district like we are, then you have to follow the guidelines for historic places which really say you should not be building in a historic place unless you looked at all options.
“In this case, options should be working with other churches in the district, like right across the street, or looking at office space that might be available in the downtown.”
She said Parks Canada also has guidelines for archeological sites.
“The document is very clear that these spaces are of sacred significance, and I find it really difficult when I come here and feeling like we have to justify to the clergy that graveyards are of spiritual significance.”
Precedents for modern design
Paul Antle is chair of the committee tasked with finding a solution for the Anglican Cathedral to create space to do its ministry, and the annex was
determined to be the best choice out of many options he said they considered.
He said in terms of the modern design, it’s nothing new. He showed the crowd photos of St. James Cathedral in downtown Toronto which has a modern building attached. The same was done with the Louvre in Paris.
Antle said there was a lot of thought put into the design to ensure it complements the cathedral.
[email protected]
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
People who attended the public meeting could write their concerns about the proposed design on information panels at the front of the cathedral. Here’s what they had to say: