Dominion-Chalmers United Church

Dominion-Chalmers United Church
Dominion-Chalmers United Church
Location 355 Cooper at O'Connor Streets, Ottawa, Ontario
Country Canada
Denomination United Church of Canada
Previous denomination Presbyterian
History
Status Cathedral
Architecture
Functional status Active
Architect(s) Alexander Cowper Hutchinson
Architectural type Norman-Gothic
Style Romanesque Revival [1]
Groundbreaking 1912

Dominion Chalmers United Church is a large United church, located in downtown Ottawa, at the corner of Cooper and O'Connor Streets (with access from Lisgar Street).[1] It is a 1962 merger of two key congregations from both the Methodist and Presbyterian traditions, each possessing lengthy histories.

History

Chalmers Presbyterian/United Church, was originally Bank Street Canada Presbyterian Church, located on nearby Bank Street at Slater Street from 1866 to 1914. Alexander Cowper Hutchinson (architect) designed the Bank Street Presbyterian Church at Bank Street at Slater Street in 1868.[2]

The Bank Street Presbyterian Church building was reconstructed by the architect William Hodgson in 1881 after a fire.[3] Alexander Cowper Hutchinson designed the Bank Street Presbyterian Sunday School in 1890.[2]

The Bank Street Presbyterian Church was renamed after Thomas Chalmers, a leader of the 1843 disruption in the Church of Scotland that led to the formation of the Free Church, and in Ottawa, their "parent" congregation of Knox Presbyterian, is now located just two blocks east on Lisgar at Elgin Street. Alexander Cowper Hutchinson designed the Chalmers Presbyterian Church on O'Connor Street at Cooper Street, 1912-14.[2]

The Metcalfe Street building was built in 1830 as Metcalfe Street Methodist. In 1852 this group merged with those from Rideau Street, and the building was enlarged and renamed The Dominion in 1876. The Dominion Methodist Church, which was located on Metcalfe Street at Queen Street, was designed by the architect Henry Hodge Horsey and built between 1875-76.[4] The Dominion Methodist plaque lists Alexis Helmer, whose death was the inspiration for John McCrae's poem, "In Flanders Fields".

The building was destroyed in a fire in February 1961.[5]

The Dominion Methodist/United Church`s roots go back to Methodist circuit riders visitations in Hull, Lower Canada from 1816, and a wooden structure built on Rideau Street in the Lower Town in 1827.

The Dominion-Chalmers (or DC Church) buildings have recently undergone major renovations to their large sanctuary (damaged by a fire in 1955), and is used for concerts; and for other special events, sometimes of a national nature.[6]

In 2018, Carleton University purchased the church building as a performance space.[7] The congregation will continue to use the building for religious services.

References

  1. 1 2 Heritage Trust
  2. 1 2 3 Alexander Cowper Hutchinson
  3. ↑ Dictionary of Architects in Canada
  4. ↑ (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 8 March 1875, 1, descrip.; Free Press [Ottawa], 10 June 1875, 4, descrip.; 7 Oct. 1876, 4, descrip.)
  5. ↑ Deachman, Bruce (3 November 2015). "100 years later, Ottawa church ensures that soldiers' stories will not be forgotten". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  6. ↑ Robb, Peter (29 January 2016). "Dominion-Chalmers seeks new path: Is a community centre for the arts in landmark church's future?". Ottawa Citizen.
  7. ↑ Murphy, Elizabeth (2018-05-24). "Carleton in the Community: Dominion-Chalmers United Church" (Press release). Ottawa: Carleton University. Retrieved 2018-06-29.

Coordinates: 45°25′00″N 75°41′42″W / 45.416784°N 75.69506°W / 45.416784; -75.69506

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