The Thorold Heritage Committee is concerned about the state of the Allanburg Church, located at 2364 Centre Street.
There’s only one problem: nobody seems to know who owns the building.
“The church is privately owned since it was sold by the United Church,” said committee chair Anna O’Hare, during Tuesday’s committee meeting. “I have asked the city before about who the owner is and all they could give me was a business number in Mississauga. They’re obviously not local. It’s probably a company and the building is falling apart.”
The Allanburg Chuch is a designated heritage property which was constructed in 1876 and built in an Italianate style with round arched door and window openings.
O’Hare flagged the issue because the soffit, which is the wooden overhang underneath the roofline, is deteriorating.
“It’s hanging on by a thread,” she said.
Plans are currently underway to renovate the community centre — owned by the city and situated on the same lot.
“I would imagine that city staff would also look up at that soffit underneath the roof of that church which could come down on anybody walking through there,” said O’Hare. “The community centre is build very close to that church. It’s a safety issue.”
Nick Bogaert, who is the city’s liaison from the planning department, said that the issue could be addressed through the city's by-law department.
“There may be a property standard issue there,” he said. “I’m happy to flag it to staff and see what we can do.”
Because the church is a protected heritage site, there's a certain way the building needs to be fixed.
“They can’t just put up a cheap vinyl or aluminum soffit in stead of the wooden one that’s there now,” O’Hare said. “Demolition by neglect is of course always a worry to heritage groups when the building is a designated heritage site which this is.”
With the issue brought forward, it will now be up the city to see if they can locate the property owners.
