St. Thomas' Renovation Update

Prepared with files from Mike Roberts, ODNW, St. Thomas’, Vancouver

The renovation and accessibility project continues at St. Thomas’, Vancouver as it moves toward the 1 year mark on April 1. The project got off to a great start for the first few months, and in July 2018, things were moving ahead quickly. However, following numerous “findings” in the 100+ year old building many challenges emerged that required visits from engineers and other building professionals.  BC Hydro required that they upgrade the electrical which contributed greatly to the delay and added considerable costs.

The parish hopes to be back in the building sometime in June of 2019.  Components of the extensive renovation and upgrade includes:

• the installation of an elevator that will reach all 3 levels of the building
• construction of fully accessible washroom facilities in the basement
• upgrading to a full kitchen in hopes of making the facility more attractive to user groups, specifically user groups in the neighborhood and also as a potential source of rental revenue for the parish.

The photos posted with this article were taken on Friday, March 22 as contractors were/are waiting on cabling from many different vendors, When that is completed the boarding up begins.

IMAGES

• New roughed in kitchen with pass through area for serving
• New storage cupboards
• Upstairs landing where the elevator door will open to the sanctuary. A stained glass window from the closed parish of St. John’s, Central Park will be installed in the open space on the right side
• The doorway to the rear of the photo leads to the sacristy  
• The metal doors lead to the room containing the new electrical room. The photo also shows the repair to the damage to the roof caused by a continuous leak that went unchecked for many years
• All windows on the lower level have been replaced
• Between the buildings, preparations for new electrical power for the building.

Photos: Mike Roberts