Only a small portion of the Gothic Arches building remained standing on Jan. 16, 2020. (Photo: Danielle McCreadie)
A piece of uptown Saint John’s history is all but a pile of rubble now.
Demolition of the century-old Gothic Arches building is nearly complete.
Crews began tearing down the church on Wentworth Street in early December.
Judith Meinert-Thomas was one of many people who stopped by the site Thursday.
“It’s a very sad day,” said Meinert-Thomas, who lives nearby and has been taking photos of the demolition daily.
But Meinert-Thomas says the vacant building, which was built in 1878, was becoming a nuisance in the neighbourhood.
“When they had storms and so on, the shingles were flying everywhere and I was so afraid that somebody would get hurt,” she said.
All that stands of Gothic Arches now is the front facade, which will likely come down this week. An entire church, an entire community’s memories, reduced to a mere pile of rubble. pic.twitter.com/9MMG7eoSsA
— Danielle McCreadie (@danimccreadie) January 16, 2020
Margaret McQueen, who also watched the demolition Thursday, said she has noticed stones falling off the building in recent years.
“It is sad to see it go, but what can we do if they don’t have the person with the funds to keep it going? It has to come down. It just becomes dangerous,” she said.
Both McQueen and Meinert-Thomas have several fond memories of the historic church.
“I saw Pete Best, the original drummer for The Beatles, in there. They had a concert there quite a few years back. That’ll be a memorable thing for me,” said McQueen.
“This was my very first spiritual home almost 80 years ago. All of my family remembers it well,” said Meinert-Thomas.
In October, local developer Percy Wilbur announced he had purchased the building and plans to turn the lot into an eight-storey “luxury” apartment building.
Construction is set to start in the spring and the building is expected to be ready for occupancy within two years.
With files from Danielle McCreadie.
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