A second area pioneer-era church has been demolished due to building safety concerns.
The East Nottawasaga Presbyterian Church located on Fairgrounds Road South, was dismantled last month. The decision by the Presbytery of Barrie was made because of liability due to its poor condition and lack of use.
The West Nottawasaga Presbyterian Church near Nottawa was dismantled in the summer, also due to safety concerns.
Rev. Darren May said the back wall of the Fairgrounds Road church was buckling, bricks were continually falling off, and it was a safety concern for anyone visiting the cemetery.
“We fully agree that it was a sad decision. It was a very painful decision for us,” said May, adding that there are members of the original families of the East Nottawasaga Presbyterian Church congregation worshipping at Jubilee Presbyterian Church in Stayner, where he is minister.
The church had no hydro or plumbing and it hadn’t been used for 40 years, with the exception of an annual service that had dwindling attendance.
May said the poor condition of the building was the reason officials opted out of having an open house prior to demolition, like the one held at the West Nottawasaga Presbyterian Church.
May said there was some discussion about selling the church but a deal wasn’t reached, and that the possibility of selling the church for private use was further complicated by the proximity of the surrounding cemetery on three sides of the building,making it difficult to service. Other attempts to seek historical designation proved unsuccessful and too costly.
“The reality is that upon demolition, the demolition company said it was in much worse shape than we actually thought it was,” said May.
He said the old churches were built at a time when people travelled by horse and buggy and couldn’t go very far.
“We’re beyond that in our culture where other people are driving past other churches to go to churches they want to attend,” said May. “Church attendance is down and Covid has made that much worse so in today’s culture it didn’t make sense to keep a building, that was so badly depleted, standing.”
He said there are plans to erect a monument at the site of the church.