Historic churches are often striking and larger-than-life characters in a neighbourhood. These were typically intentionally constructed to be grand and majestic community centrepieces that stood out architecturally, sometimes dramatically dominating a streetscape. In other words, they’re important threads in the fabric of the neighbourhood.

United Memorial Church is especially intriguing from a historical perspective, since it was built in memory of those who died in the Halifax explosion, and it lives at the centre of a community almost entirely destroyed from the blast. Now if that’s not historical value, we don’t know what is.

Sidewalk was excited to acquire this property because we’re uniquely positioned to recognize, celebrate, and maintain its historic value. In 2019, The United Memorial Church was listed as one of Canada’s top 10 most endangered heritage properties. Since then, we’ve secured heritage designation to save the church from its’ planned demolition.

Now, alongside our friends and architects at Breakhouse, we’re proposing a restoration and 12-storey residential addition with 3 ground-level townhouse units and 75 loft-style units. The building will feature a new accessible public square and throughway from Kaye Street to Young Street, and a modern translucent bell tower in memory of the Halifax Explosion. The soul of the church will live on, while adding much needed housing to its’ core urban North End neighbourhood.