RangersFan
03-17-2010, 06:20 PM
Church slated for Pillers site
By Greg MacDonald, Chronicle Staff
Mar 17, 2010
The Pillers factory on University Avenue East is getting a new neighbour.
The congregation from Grace Brethren Mennonite Church is getting set to construct a new church beside the meat factory.
Grace Brethren currently runs its Sunday masses at the Great Hall of Conrad Grebel College at University of Waterloo.
But the congregation has been looking for a new permanent home for five years.
And Grace Brethren board chair Peter Durkson believes they’ve found the location.
“Because the Pillers site is more clearly identified with a neighbourhood . . . we’ll be able to have better identification with a community,” Durkson said.
It will also give the congregation a place to gather outside of Sunday mornings.
“When we are looking to organize other events now, we have to find somewhere to book them,” he said.
There were some concerns about setting up shop beside an industrial site, but Durkson said he and some other members of the congregation drove around the site to make sure there weren’t any obvious odours.
Durkson also talked to Pillers’ other neighbours and said they had no issues with the plant.
“There were no concerns that came up,” he said.
An air quality test confirmed his findings.
City councillors approved a zone change for the site earlier this month allowing a church to be built on a portion of the Pillers’ site.
A part of the deli meat company’s property was sold off because it was not available for industrial expansion. Grace Brethren acquired the property through a land swap with a local developer.
“We had a property that was in a subdivision, but we wanted somewhere on a main street for the church,” Durkson said.
The details of the land swap are still being worked out.
Construction on the church could begin within a year.
It will be a two-phase project consisting of a main sanctuary being built first, then an addition featuring a church hall and meeting room to be built later.
By Greg MacDonald, Chronicle Staff
Mar 17, 2010
The Pillers factory on University Avenue East is getting a new neighbour.
The congregation from Grace Brethren Mennonite Church is getting set to construct a new church beside the meat factory.
Grace Brethren currently runs its Sunday masses at the Great Hall of Conrad Grebel College at University of Waterloo.
But the congregation has been looking for a new permanent home for five years.
And Grace Brethren board chair Peter Durkson believes they’ve found the location.
“Because the Pillers site is more clearly identified with a neighbourhood . . . we’ll be able to have better identification with a community,” Durkson said.
It will also give the congregation a place to gather outside of Sunday mornings.
“When we are looking to organize other events now, we have to find somewhere to book them,” he said.
There were some concerns about setting up shop beside an industrial site, but Durkson said he and some other members of the congregation drove around the site to make sure there weren’t any obvious odours.
Durkson also talked to Pillers’ other neighbours and said they had no issues with the plant.
“There were no concerns that came up,” he said.
An air quality test confirmed his findings.
City councillors approved a zone change for the site earlier this month allowing a church to be built on a portion of the Pillers’ site.
A part of the deli meat company’s property was sold off because it was not available for industrial expansion. Grace Brethren acquired the property through a land swap with a local developer.
“We had a property that was in a subdivision, but we wanted somewhere on a main street for the church,” Durkson said.
The details of the land swap are still being worked out.
Construction on the church could begin within a year.
It will be a two-phase project consisting of a main sanctuary being built first, then an addition featuring a church hall and meeting room to be built later.