St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts wants to create event space in historic Ottawa Lowertown church

St. Brigid's Centre for the Arts in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood on Tuesday, Oct. 29. (Andrew Adlington/CTV News Ottawa)

The owners of St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts want to remove the pews to create a 500-person event space in the historic church in Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood, to help address a “growing heritage infrastructure deficit.”

St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts has submitted an application under the Ontario Heritage Act to the City of Ottawa, seeking permission to remove the ground floor pews of the St. Patrick Street church in order to open a “flexible multi-purpose” event space.

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The application, submitted by architect Barry Padolsky on behalf of the St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, says a Building Condition Report prepared in 2023 outlined $18.2 million in the short term, medium term and long-term actions needed to conserve the building’s “deteriorating heritage infrastructure.”  The $18.2 million estimate excluded “soft costs” and the renewal of non-heritage but essential features.

St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts has been operating as a venue for public and private events since being purchased in 2007, including the Kildare Room and Brigid’s Well Pub in the basement.

“In the absence of significant municipal, Ontario or federal heritage grant assistance, and notwithstanding the owners’ personal funding contributions, the limited revenue from rental activities has not permitted the investments necessary to reduce the St Brigid’s Centre for the Arts growing heritage infrastructure deficit,” the report says.

To help pay for the conservation of St. Brigid’s deteriorating heritage infrastructure, St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts wants to remove the pews to create an event space to accommodate 300 to 500 people for performances, cabaret events, weddings and banquets.

A look inside St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts in Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood. (City of Ottawa report)

“The adaptive re-use of the ground floor of St Brigid’s Centre for the Arts offers an opportunity to somewhat increase revenue by meeting the market demand for an iconic, distinctive, flexible, usable space for social events, weddings exhibitions, performances, conferences and corporate gatherings,” the report says.

“The St Brigid’s team has concluded that the simple removal of the existing fixed pews and the levelling of the (two-level) hardwood floor can transform the former worship space into an appealing barrier-free venue that meets the functional and aesthetic criteria for increased usage and revenue generation.”

The scope of the work includes removing the fixed pews and safely storing the benchs off site, repairing, sanding and refinishing the raised hardwood flooring areas and installing new hardwood flooring. St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts has developed a three-part salvage plan for the wood pews, including relocating a number of pews to the Kildare Room and Brigid’s Well Pub in the basement, and offering surplus pews to faith congregations and the public.

The report does not say how much it will cost to turn the church into an event space, or how much revenue is expected to be generated by the transformation into the event space.

St. Brigid’s Church was erected in 1889-1890, and it was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1981.  In 2006, the Archdiocese announced the closure and de-consecration of St. Brigid’s Church due to a shrinking congregation and the high cost of repairs needed to the church.

In 2007, members of the Ottawa Irish community purchased St. Brigid’s Church to establish Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts. According to the report, the building has operated as a venue for public and private events over the past 17 years.

In 2022, the historic church was put up for sale, and a deal to sell the church to the “United People of Canada” fell through.

St. Brigid’s was for sale in October 2022 for $5.95 million.