June 29 at 10:43 AM · Ottawa ·
Another beloved landmark has fallen. This time, though, we saved a bit.
All photos-Andrea Ross-
I keep telling the story over and over that as a 14 year-old girl in Cowansville, Quebec I fought to have 6 homes of historic nature not torn down on the Main Street. My father was a councillor at the time and was not impressed with his daughter speaking at the town hall meeting, but today many regret the loss of these grand old homes. Once you tear something down, it just can’t come back.
Unfortunately, now many of the oldest and most interesting homes are slowly disappearing due to lack of interest in their preservation. I have a feeling that down the line that only locations that have been deemed architecturally significant are going to be safe from the wrecking ball. So what if a building isn’t beautiful? Why are we tearing down the brownstones and old brick farmhouses that are now part of our inner cities and towns just because they are not significant?
Many thanks goes to Andrea Ross from Ottawa for documenting this. The fact she took initiative and rescued important artifacts from the building is outstanding. These tear down trends in my personal opinion are forgetting that older buildings are physical representations of our area’s history and culture. They attract tourists, and even town or city dwellers who might like to take a scenic walk or drive to see some of these old buildings. I still think people want to live in an area that has character with buildings that are memories from our past and attractive accessories to local businesses.
I’m sure some of you are thinking that this all sounds like an older generation writing about holding on to antiquated thoughts and privileges. There is no doubt that an aging building poses a unique set of challenges, and it’s great when you can retain a building; but it’s not always possible for those even with deep pockets. As George Pope Morris once wrote “Woodman, Spare that Tree!” I am writing in defense of perfectly good buildings that are razed to make way for new development, and when I see things like Andrea did; I have to document it. Even she could not spare the tree, but she certainly saved some branches.
Thank you Andrea from the bottom of my heritage heart
In Memory of the
This written opinion is of that of the writer only, Linda Seccaspina.
I have documented historical mentions of the Holiness Movement Church below. If you wish to read about the Hornerites-
Hornerites? What Were Hornerites? CLICKhttps://lindaseccaspina.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/hornerites-what-were-hornerites/
By Kim Elder Click here
Heritage Ottawa Newsletter 2014
The Holiness Movement Church was a sect started by Bishop Ralph Cecil Horner (1853-1921) in 1895 when he broke with the Methodist Church. The membership of the sect was drawn largely from rural people in the Ottawa Valley but the headquarters was in Ottawa, which oddly furnished very few members. To outside observers, the services conducted by Bishop Horner appeared to be very noisy affairs. The act of prostration, which led to the unflattering name of “holy rollers”, was for Horner proof that God was changing the seeker’s life from inside out.
In late 1908 the Holiness Movement Church occupied the vacant house and grounds at 910 Bank Street as an annex to their Holiness Movement Institute, established at 482 Bank Street in the early 1900s. The 1912 Insurance Plan shows the house at 910 Bank Street as well as the Hornerite Church nearby on the corner of Mutchmor (now Fifth Avenue) and Monk. The former Mutchmor home “Abbotsford” is now the Protestant Home for the Aged. In 1914 the Holiness Movement Church focussed their teaching activities at 910 Bank Street. In 1917, the year that Bishop Ralph Cecil Horner was deposed from the Holiness Movement Church, the Institute ceased operation and the building served briefly as a meeting hall. In 1918 it re-opened as the “Holiness Movement College” and in 1925 it adopted the simpler “Annesley College” name, in honour of Susannah Annesley, mother of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist movement.
The Holiness Movement Church appears to have run into financial difficulties in the mid 1930’s. The College closed in 1949 and the building was torn down shortly after. One tangible reminder of the Holiness Movement Church sect is the Ecclesiax Church on the south-west corner of Fifth Avenue and Monk Street. The red granite cornerstone reads “Holiness Movement Church Erected AD 1900-1921”. The first building on the site was listed in City Directories as a “Hornerite Meeting Hall”, a wooden structure built in 1900, later known as the “Holiness Movement Church”. The present Church building dating from 1921, is a brick clad timber structure, likely incorporating the original hall. It has a starkly modern addition to the west, completed in 1950. The Holiness Movement Church joined the Free Methodist Church in 1959. Ken Elder is a postcard collector, a heritage architect and a Heritage Ottawa Board member.
Home – Mutchmor PS
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada25 Sep 1926, Sat • Page 2
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada19 Feb 1929, Tue • Page 17
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada20 Jan 1899, Fri • Page 3
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada17 Apr 1897, Sat • Page 7
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