College Street United Church | |
College Street United Church
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Location | College and Bathurst Streets in Toronto, Canada. |
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Country | Canada |
Denomination | United Church of Canada |
Previous denomination | Presbyterian |
History | |
Former name(s) | College Street Presbyterian |
Architecture | |
Status | Cathedral |
Functional status | Active |
Architectural type | Norman-Gothic |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Specifications | |
Capacity | 1500 |
College Street United Church is a United Church of Canada church at the corner of College and Bathurst Streets in Toronto, Canada. The large church was built in 1885 as College Street Presbyterian and could hold 1200 worshippers, under founding (1874) minister Alexander Gilray (1874-1915), and Robert Balmer Cochrane (1915-1925). In 1925, this congregation voted to join the United Church, and was the site that June of the 51st and final General Assembly of the originally constituted Presbyterian Church in Canada before a majority of congregations of that founding denomination voted to enter the United Church of Canada.
Over time attendance fell and it ran into financial difficulties and fell into disrepair. Thus in the 1980s, despite its heritage status, it was decided to demolish much of the church a rebuild it with a condominium on top. The architects of the new building worked to have it be as similar to the old church as possible, copying many of its architectural elements. Money from the 89 unit condo funds the church now located in the lower levels of the building.