Waterloo to demolish former church as affordable housing plans move ahead

A former church in Waterloo will be demolished to make way for affordable housing. CTV's Krista Simpson has the details.

A former church in Waterloo’s Lincoln Heights neighbourhood is slated for demolition this spring as the city advances plans to redevelop the site for affordable housing.

The City of Waterloo purchased the former St. Columba Anglican Church property at 250 Lincoln Rd. in April, with the intent of developing affordable and attainable housing on the 1.04-acre site.

An earlier plan to temporarily use the building for an arts programming space was abandoned due to accessibility concerns, prompting the city to speed up its redevelopment timeline.

On Monday, councillors voted unanimously to move the project forward. Next steps include scheduling a public information meeting for March, asking housing providers to submit expressions of interest in the project by May and demolishing the church building sometime in the spring.

City staff were also instructed to explore options for using the site as a publicly accessible green space once the building is torn down.

Before the vote, council heard from a delegate who raised concerns about how this project fits into a neighbourhood that’s largely made up of single-detached homes and not located along a major transit route. The delegate urged council to delay demolition until a clearer development plan for the property was in place.

Other delegates raised concerns about the loss of parking at the site, which they say is currently used for student pick-up and drop-off at nearby Lincoln Heights Public School due to limited parking in the area.

The city has promised that parking arrangement will remain in place for remainder of the school year and that options to extend it are being explored.

Councillors encouraged delegates and others in attendance to continue providing feedback throughout the decision-making process for the St. Columba site.

“We have an opportunity here to work through a number of the critical issues that are involved in re-imagining places of worship,” Ward 7 Coun. Julie Wright said. “As a city we have an opportunity to provide leadership about what a good repurposing of that portfolio could look like for community benefit.”

A decision on a preferred development option could come as early as June, though councillors were warned the timeline could shift depending on the number of proposals received and potential updates related to Waterloo Region’s water capacity issues.