Madill Church was built in 1873 by a small group of early settlers, many of whom have descendants still living in the area. Its squared-log timber construction is one of the few remaining examples of its type in Ontario. And Huntsville’s namesake, Captain George Hunt who arrived in the area in 1869 and died in 1882, is buried in the adjacent cemetery along with many of those who helped build the church.
These are among the reasons some local residents would like to see the church saved. Its current owner, the United Church of Canada, no longer has use for it and Huntsville Council is considering whether or not it wants to add the building to its current assets. If no one steps forward to take ownership of the historic church, the United Church of Canada has said it will demolish the deteriorating building for safety reasons.
A small group of concerned residents held a public meeting on Wednesday, June 21, to brainstorm ideas for keeping the church intact. Among the 15 people present for the meeting were members from Trinity United Church and the Huntsville and Area Historical Society, who were there independent of their organizations, and Councillor Nancy Alcock who also sits on the Municipal Heritage Committee.
Alcock reminded the meeting-goers that council still needs to make a decision on whether to take ownership of Madill Church, and before doing that they want public input. She advised those who want to see Madill Church saved to complete the Town’s survey (open until July 3 at noon) and call their councillor to express why it’s important.
She added that while there are no formal estimates in place, costs to fix the building could range from tens of thousands to get it to a “static position” where it is structurally sound, to hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it usable as a facility for events.
“From my perspective, this is a treasure, how do we make the treasure stay?” said Alcock. “At the very least I think the municipality should say yes we will take it, we will buy it from you for a dollar, and then we will figure out with our community how we proceed.” She stressed that hers was one opinion, however, and that the decision needed to be made by council as a whole. Alcock also noted that responsibility for the church could take several forms including a partnership with an outside group or formation of a trust.
Madill Church (Photo: Morgan Earl)
The discussion among the group included what the church might be used for in the future, who might be able to assist with restoration, and how to engage more people to ensure it happens.
“Clearly there won’t be a congregation,” said one woman. “It can be preserved as a monument for historical reasons, but there is no way to get your money back because then you have to go on to the $300,000 kind of figure if you were going to try to hold events there in order to recoup some of the money. What is the goal?”
Barry Groomes, who spearheaded the meeting, said that many people have offered to help with materials or labour, but what was needed was a committee to continue working on ideas for saving the church while waiting for the Town to make a decision. Because the church isn’t a designated heritage building – it’s on a register of properties of heritage interest – it could be renovated rather than merely restored with like materials.
The cemetery adjacent to Madill Church is where Huntsville’s namesake, Captain George Hunt, is interred (Photo: Town of Huntsville)
Another attendee said that stressing the church’s significance to council will be important. “Do you not think it’s about justifying why?” he said. “That’s where the namesake of our town is interred. There is no other more meaningful reason.”
David Allen, Executive Secretary for the Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada, which owns Madill Church, said in a later conversation with Doppler that they would like to see a local group assume ownership of the church given its historic value for the community. That could be the municipality, which already owns the cemetery, or it could be a local group that forms for the purpose.
“We want to be as responsible as we can be either to work with a local group to take it over, or if absolutely necessary to demolish it for safety concerns,” he said, adding that because it would cost money to demolish the building, the Toronto Conference may be willing to contribute that approximate amount – estimated at between $7,500 and $10,000 – to help preserve the church.
[UPDATE 6/24: In response to this story, a family that has relatives interred in the Madill cemetery – John Paton and his daughters, members of the Collins-West-Dunn clan – have said they will match the Toronto Conference’s donation.]
Because the church is in poor condition, a transfer of ownership would need to occur relatively quickly in order for repairs to begin as soon as possible, said Allen. “The longer you have a building sitting there empty, it raises concerns about liability. We want to be careful for the safety of the public and be responsible for the financial state of the (United) Church.”
Allen added that if there is a group interested in assuming ownership, the Toronto Conference would “rather bring that to a successful conclusion” than impose a timeline under which demolition would occur. But if no group comes forward, he said the ideal timing for demolition of the church would be “before snow the flies”.
Several members of the group that met Wednesday night have agreed to look into options. They plan to meet again in August, after the matter has returned to the town’s General Committee, which is likely to happen in July according to Alcock.
Related: Town needs partners to come forward to prevent demolition of historic Madill Church
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Council of the Town of Huntsville has called a Public Meeting regarding Madill Church, on Thursday August 17, 2017 at 6 pm at the Active Living Centre (behind Canada Summit Centre, 20 Park Drive), Huntsville, Ontario.
If you have bequest intentions or input to register, and you cannot attend the meeting, please contact [email protected]. Thank you.
The Graham Family will also match the United Churches donation.
Although I’ve only lived in Huntsville for 6 weeks, I’ve come to the community and the area for many years and I remember seeing this little Church as a child. As soon as I saw this story, I remembered the Church and I very much support saving it. We have become such a “throw away” society and that is a terrible thing. We like to brag about recycling, re-purposing, etc., but what about such an important historical treasure. It seems insulting to the original pioneering families who worked so hard to make these communities places where we are now proud to live, if we cannot respect the past achievements and try as hard as possible to retain them. People need to halt their busy lives long enough to show their support for the preservation of this very special place and do honour to the town and environs of Huntsville.
Madill Church is historically important to the Huntsville area and deserves to be cared for. It represents the talent, cooperation, hard work and social cohesion of early pioneer society and stands as a reminder of that. Are we just a throwaway society? We hope not. My sister and I, on behalf of ourselves and our children, would like to add to the offers from the United Church ($10,000), John Paton ($10,000), Michael Graham ($10,000) and others, with a pledge of $5000 to the fund or organization that assumes responsibility for the church and its restoration.
Our connection is through our father, Bruce West, who was born and raised in Huntsville and went on to become a national journalist and writer. His grandparents were recognized Huntsville pioneers, Nancy and George West. They are all buried in the Madill Cemetery along with many other family members.
The church was built by smart pioneers and it can be fixed by smart locals. Some of the estimates seem awfully high.
Linda (West) Dunn and Carol (West) Collins
Ottawa and Mahone Bay
Like the Paton family, The Graham family of Huntsville will also match the $10,000 of the United Church in honor of our father Jim Graham who is buried at the cemetery.
Michael Graham
Rye, NY
I’ve been dreaming for decades about possibilities for the Madill Church. I am very interested in joining with a group of local citizens and/or locally connected people to see what can be done.
I missed the meeting but agree with the preservation of the church. Community of Newholm rallied together to restore their church and did the necessary renovations to do so. Rural churches need to be kept and restored and with the cemetery there even more so. Concerts could be held and other events to add to the coffers for ongoing restoration. I am sorry to have missed the meeting and with only 15 people showing up? there were more on the facebook site stating an interest in this project! Where are you and where do you stand! in Canada’s 150 yr celebration……Do we have to wait till August for another meeting? I was not raised in Huntville but have been here since 1978 and care about this project. All denominations should be involved in this historical town establishment,. Look at the closing of the Anglican Ravenscliffe Church…..it is sad that their ongoing upkeep of their building with fundraising came to this, closing due to lack of interest….. We should all rally round these buildings …be on the “Open Doors” programme to bring people in. It is not in a state of falling down or in a state of caving in! Is there a way the Ministry of Cultural Affairs could be involved in this situation?
I am very interested to watch the value our Town council places on our Pioneers and historical Churches. The Anglican Church within the Diocese of Algoma is closing many of our small rural churches and their significant to our history as many pioneers rest in these cemeteries. I think of St. Mary’s Aspdin – the first stone church. Lots for the town fathers to think about.
If the Toronto Conference of the Church, will, as they say in the story, donate $10,000 to help preserve Madill Church, my daughters and I (part of the Collins-West-Dunn clan who have family members buried there) will match that donation.
John Paton
New York, NY
I would like to see our Council and Mayor really think about this incredibly important historical Church for the next week or two. Look where it is located, on the original road our pioneers travelled on to settle here, the Muskoka Colonization Road. Many of those very hard working people are buried in the Cemetery surrounding the building. We know there are only so many tax dollars to go around during the year, but I think the Madill Church is worth some consideration by you, especially at this time of Canada’s 150 year Celebration. Let us in Huntsville show the rest of Canada that we really do care about Huntsville’s history.