Downtown heritage-area developments for Anglican diocese causing a stir in St. John's

Two separate Anglican diocesedevelopment projects including a 10-storey condominium that would modernize a historic area of downtown St. John's are prompting widespread debate in the neighbourhood.

St. John's city council is preparing to vote on a proposal for one of the projects, a controversial annex at the site of the Anglican Cathedral of St. John's the Baptist. Meanwhile, area residents are upset about another project that would replace the Cathedral Parish Hall on Queens Road with the condominium building.

"Any kind of modern design in a heritage area is going to generate a lot of public debate,"said Coun. Maggie Burton of the sleek, glass-sided annex on the cathedral grounds.

The new building which will include the bishop's office, a new resource centre and a smallcaf is already angeringsome.

Garrison Hill resident Joshua Smeesaid, from what he's heard, "people don't love it esthetically," although he's seeing enthusiasm over the idea of more community spaces in the area.

But according to Smee,it's the other church-involved property development that has the neighbourhood talking.

Condo proposal under fire

The site of the old Cathedral Parish Hallat Queens Roadand Garrison Hill is already being considered for rezoning, with council considering approving a proposal to construct a 40-unit residential building.

The parish hall is acity-designated heritage building, but a review from the city's built heritage panel says the developer, which would buy the land from the diocese,wants to keep the archway and other historical elements intact.

Smee said not everyone opposes the development it's just a question of how the land should be used.

Affordable housing or commercial spaces, he said, could meet both the church's needsand those of the community.

"Broadly speaking, the conversation in the neighbourhood has been, 'Is this getting the maximum value out of this big patch of downtown?'"

Smee said residents also took issue withthe speed at which the proposals were moving through the approval process, adding the neighbourhood didn't learn of the project plans until someone happened to notice them in an expert panel review.

"It's certainly not ideal practice," he said. "Projects are always better with more consultation."

Another resident told CBC Newsapetition with more than300 signatures has been circulated to stop the rezoning, but Burton said that hadn't yet been brought to her attention.

Annex vote could happen inAugust

Burton said while she's heard a lot of opposition to the annex proposal, she's also hearing from people who like its modern design.

Smee says he personally doesn't mind the polished mock-upsand would be comfortable with the buildso long as graves aren't disturbed during construction.

A local historian previously expressed concerns over digging up the site, estimating that as many as 20,000 bodieshavebeen buried in the churchyard since the 17th century.

Gerald Penney, the archeologist whose firm examined the site, said they dug test pits and didn't find human remains.

Burton said a provincial archeologist would oversee any construction.

For those still concerned, an information session on Thursday will allow the public to be involved as early as possible in the approval process,she added.

"If we're looking at taking a vote on this at the next meeting then we wanted to get the information session out there as fast as possible," Burton said.

"The idea is that [the parish] will have an answer one way or the other by the time they wanted to start, which I think is fair to them."

ArchdeaconRoger Whalen told CBC earlier this month that the church hoped to begin the build by August.

Burton said she expects an involved conversation about developing the churchyard,given that the area is a national historic district

"Now it's going to be up to council to make the final decision on whether or not this goes ahead."

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