Madill Church Preservation Society forms to save historic building from demolition

A new non-profit organization is in the works, one with the sole goal of preserving a piece of Huntsville’s past.

The new board of the Madill Church Preservation Society – which formed following a public meeting at the Active Living Centre on August 17 – will be working on incorporating the new entity as a non-profit organization before beginning the task of taking over ownership of the historic church from the United Church of Canada (UCC).

In May, an agent for the UCC told Huntsville’s General Committee that it had no further congregational use for the building. Although it recognized the significance of the church, Town Council was reluctant to assume responsibility for the aging structure. Madill Church is one of Huntsville’s oldest buildings and one of few remaining examples of its kind in Ontario, but is in poor condition. Huntsville’s namesake Captain George Hunt is interred in the adjacent cemetery, which is already owned and maintained by the Town of Huntsville. (Read a previous Doppler story about the church here.)

The public meeting was organized by the Town of Huntsville with the express purpose of bringing together individuals who were interested in preserving the church but didn’t know where to start. A Town survey intended to gauge public interest in preserving Madill Church indicated solid support that ranged from offers of construction materials and labour, to financial donations and volunteer time.

At the August 17 meeting, the Town’s Manager of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Teri Souter, outlined some of the details a new group would need to consider, including its non-profit structure, fundraising, repairs to the building and timing of same, and sustainability of both the church and the group organized to preserve it.

She said that while the Town does not want to own the building and staff cannot sit on its board, they would be available to offer advice and support to a group that formed with the intent of preserving the church. Should the group want the church to have official heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act – it is now merely on the Town’s list of heritage properties of interest – that process would be facilitated by the Municipal Heritage Committee and Town staff. Heritage designation would ensure that the building is preserved in perpetuity.

Also on the panel for the meeting were Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano, Councillor Jason FitzGerald, who is also chair of the Municipal Heritage Committee, the Town’s Director of Community Services, Kari Lambe, and Tim Beard, Director of Property Services for the Toronto United Church Council, a United Church of Canada (UCC) agency which has been engaged by the UCC’s Toronto Conference to manage and divest its surplus properties. Councillors Nancy Alcock and Bob Stone and town staff were among the audience of about 40 concerned citizens.

Carolynn MacKay speaks to the future of Madill Church at the public meeting. She is now the president of the newly formed Madill Church Preservation Society

Members of the Huntsville and Area Historical Society (HAHS) were on hand to offer advice and also suggested that one solution could be a working committee formed under HAHS to take advantage of its incorporated status but, as only a legal entity can take ownership of the building, the larger group quickly agreed that a separate organization was needed. It would begin with money in its pocket – the UCC has offered $10,000 in seed money, or the equivalent of the cost to demolish the church plus the cost to transfer title. The Toronto United Church Council has agreed to give a new preservation group up to one year to arrange for transfer of the title to Madill Church.

After the meeting was adjourned, members of the audience remained to discuss the creation of a new non-profit organization and the Madill Church Preservation Society was born. An inaugural board was formed and its executive was established. Carolynn MacKay is the organization’s president.

Councillor Jason FitzGerald, chair of Huntsville’s Municipal Heritage Committee, said that he’s pleased with the result of the meeting.

“I think it’s a very positive move forward and I’m happy to see that the people who have formed the group have been able to do it quickly and without hesitation. You can tell that they are invested in the preservation of Madill Church.”

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