No Foundation and Over $7 Million in Repairs: Winnipeg’s 1884 Holy Trinity Anglican Church Faces a Hard Choice

• Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Winnipeg was built in 1884 and is a National Historic Site
• A 1989 survey found the building had no foundation
• Repairs are estimated at more than $7 million
• Heritage Winnipeg says the church should have been sold earlier

One of Winnipeg’s most important historic churches needs more than $7 million in repairs, Heritage Winnipeg reported in May 2024, raising questions about its future.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church was built in 1884 in the Victorian Gothic Revival style, the first major Winnipeg project by British designer Charles H. Wheeler. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1990, added to the city’s historical resources list in 2008, and is one of only two Anglican churches built before 1890 that survive in the city.

A 1989 geological survey found that the building had no foundation, and a 2007 city report documented water damage inside. A church report to the congregation said: “Since the late 1980’s, this parish has operated with the knowledge that major repairs to build a foundation under the historic church would be necessary to avoid a collapse.” Repair costs are now estimated at more than $7 million.

Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, was critical. “This should have been done a long, long time ago. They should have sold it before it became too cost-prohibitive for someone else to do,” she said. The same report described the demolition of Polson House nearby after years of deferred maintenance, making way for infill rental housing.

Holy Trinity is a warning about deferred maintenance. The longer a structural problem is known and not fixed, the more expensive it becomes, and the fewer buyers or partners can take it on. Jamaican churches with known structural issues, from roofs to foundations, should get surveys, cost the repairs and decide early whether to repair, partner or sell, while the building still has value.