February 19th: A New Hall

St. Matthias’ was officially founded as a mission of St. George’s, Place du Canada, in 1873, which means our community is 150 this year! For the next 12 months, we’ll be diving into the archives to shine the spotlight on particularly interesting parts of our history.

After the new church building was finished in 1913, St. Matthias’ occupied two buildings on their single property: the old church, and the one we now call home. But in 1933, a stray comment at the Annual Vestry meeting about the difficulty the Sunday School was having trekking back and forth between buildings started a conversation that would grow, in two short years, into the hall where Miss Vicky’s now welcomes Westmount’s pre-schoolers. It was a massive undertaking, barely twenty years after the previous big building project.

Empowered by a 1911 private provincial bill (bill 62 of that year’s legislative sitting) allowing the church to borrow money, and by a motion passed by a Special Vestry in June 1934 indicating how much, in August 1934 Rev. Gilbert Oliver and his wardens leveraged the new building and the land it occupied for a forty-thousand-dollar loan from The Eastern Trust Company. And then they were off. From that Special Vestry to the final meeting of the Building Committee, held in the new hall, less than eleven months passed. More than simply a feat of architecture and engineering – and of fundraising – the parish hall represents one of the most efficient periods of St. Matthias’ history. The longest part of the process, aside from paying off the mortgage, which would take almost twenty more years, was the twenty months between Mr. P.J. Turner’s Sunday School complaint and the contractors’ first day on the job. What confidence the St. Matthias’ of the 1930s had, to jump so quickly into such a project!

The full timeline, as constructed from the archives:

January 1934: The Parish Advisory Board, a larger, more powerful, and more formal version of today’s Paris Executive, brings forward a motion to conduct a feasibility study for a new parish hall

28 May 1934: A Special Vestry meeting is called. Over $15,000 of the $20,000 (today: over $425,000) in donations needed to make the project feasible has been received thus far, and two mortgage offers are on the table. Special Vestry approves a motion to begin construction when the fundraising goal has been reached and a mortgage of maximum $37,000 has been finalised. A Parish Hall Building Committee is established – with gender parity.

15 June 1934: The architect promises plans before August 1st, and several construction firms are listed as possibilities. The Ladies’ Organisations of the church have already mapped out their electrical outlet needs, and will be canvassed (the same day, per correspondence in the archives) for their storage needs.

20 June 1934: The architect presents a first pass at plans, which are discussed in granular detail.

25 June 1934: A second Special Vestry is held, at which a motion is passed empowering the Corporation to seek a loan – provided they first receive permission, in writing, from a Loan subcommittee of the Parish Hall Building Committee. As the final plans have not yet been delivered, a parishioner volunteers to personally pay the cost of expediting said plans. The Corporation is empowered to seek bids for the project, not to exceed $48,000 (today: $1,021,000).

3 August 1934: A mortgage is secured on both the new church and the property as a whole; payments are to be $2000 (today: $46,000) twice a year at 6% interest, beginning on August 1st, 1935. The loan is to be repaid in full by August 1939.

4 August 1934: The architect delivers the final blueprints.

16 August 1934: A contract is signed with the engineering firm of Bremner, Norris, & Co. to build the hall, and construction begins soon after.

22 August 1934: The lien on the property by the lender who financed the main church building in 1911 at $30,000 is officially released.

20 September 1934: The Ladies’ organisations present to the Building Committee a detailed budget for furnishings, including rugs, ovens, and a vacuum cleaner.

22 January 1935: A report on the Parish Hall Building Fund states that the $15,000 pledged for the hall has not increased since the previous May; of that amount, a little over $3,000 is yet to be received

14 May 1935: The final bill is received from the contractors, via the architect, totalling $42,970.99. When furnishings are added, the total cost of the Hall is $44,904.49 (today: $954,844.09).

15 May 1935: The final Parish Hall Building Committee Meeting is held in the Ladies’ Room of the new hall; as its final act, the Committee passes a motion approving final payment to the architect and contractors.

16 September 1935: The contractors officially request the final payment, a little over $900 (today: $19,000).

7 October 1935: The final payment, minus $100, is sent to the contractors; the remaining amount awaits some tweaks from the architect.

27 January 1936: At the Annual Vestry, the Wardens report that the building accounts have been paid, excepting the $100 held back against the completion of some small work, and advise that the loan is to be paid off by $2000 yearly, which, with the addition of interest, comes out to a little over the $4000 yearly payment specified in the notarised deed of loan.

7 July 1936: The final payment of $100 is released to the contractors.

10 January 1939: The Wardens report to the Annual Vestry that the Building Fund contains less than $200 of the over $4000 needed for loan repayment.

7 October 1939: The mortgage is extended for 5 years.

12 September 1944: with $30,000 (today: $638,000) remaining of the principal, the mortgage is extended for 5 years.

5 April 1948: with $20,000 (today: $425,000) remaining of the principal, the mortgage is extended for 5 years.