Church seeks designation to preserve Collingwood’s Black history

A campaign is underway to formally recognize a local church for its significance to Black history.

The property where the current Heritage Community Church (310 Seventh St.) now stands has long been a safe haven for Black settlers in Collingwood. 

The church's current directors are now seeking a formal heritage designation to preserve the history and the property's connection to Black history dating back to the 1870s. 

During Monday’s (July 13) development and operations standing committee meeting, councillors approved a recommendation to designate Heritage Community Church as a heritage site under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, by directing staff to issue a notice of intention to designate.

Sisters Carolynn and Sylvia Wilson are the current directors of the church, and were approached by a member of the heritage committee about a year ago to see if they’d be interested in applying.

“We’ve always known it’s been important,” Carolynn told CollingwoodToday.ca this week. “We hadn’t thought of applying. We put our own plaques on our church.”

For the church’s 150th anniversary in 2020, Carolynn said another plaque was added to commemorate that milestone. If the church receives the designation, Sylvia said it will ensure that the church structure remains for years to come.

“I think that’s important to the community. If we get plaques or a storyboard, it will continue the history of early Black settlers, not just in Collingwood but the whole area, and how they contributed to the growth of the town,” said Sylvia. “It’s the only physical landmark of the Black community.”

In 1870, the Black community in Collingwood — and supportive white neighbours — collectively raised $15 to purchase the property on Seventh Street with the purpose of building a church.

The original church burned down, but a second was built in the same spot in the 1920s. The current church was rebuilt in 1976 and incorporated as the Heritage Community Church, and has undergone additional renovations over the last few years.

SEE MORE: The neighbourhood that prayed together stayed together

According to the heritage report completed by Su Murdoch Historical Consulting, the property is a significant landmark of direct descendants of freedmen, freedwomen, freedom seekers, the enslaved, and fugitives who established a flourishing Black settlement in Collingwood, also known as a northern terminus for the Underground Railroad.

“Gatherings for Black folk gave them recognition, self-esteem and courage to face racial taunts and rejection,” noted a long-term congregation member in the report. “The survival of the Collingwood church is a visible statement that people of African descent met all the challenges faced in Collingwood, of discrimination from local citizens, within our settlement, on the street, to officials in public sectors, and survived.”

Some of the benefits of a heritage designation include owners becoming eligible for incentive programs such as grants for restoration/maintenance, a public acknowledgement of a property’s cultural heritage value and ensuring built cultural heritage is maintained long-term.

During Monday’s meeting, Acting Mayor Keith Hull noted the history of the property is “fascinating.”

“For someone who’s not familiar to the history and the significance from the cultural aspect of it and they were to look at the physical building, they might not appreciate the heritage,” said Hull. “The significance to the community and the foundation to the growth of the area...should be celebrated more.”

Community Planner Justin Teakle said that while it isn’t common for a building constructed in the 1970s to be considered heritage, it’s not just design and physical value that are at play to determine what heritage is worth preserving.

“By designating the property, it ensures that the property isn’t altered or demolished in the future if the use transitions,” said Teakle.

At the end of discussions, the committee voted unanimously in favour of directing staff to issue a notice of intention to designate the 310 Seventh St. property. The matter will be before council on July 25 for another vote.

UPDATE: During their July 25 meeting, council voted unanimously in favour of directing staff to issue a notice of intention to designate 310 Seventh St. as a heritage property.