The Anglican bishop of Fredericton says Christ Church Cathedral is looking at ways to sustain itself, including selling downtown properties owned by the diocese to pay for the building's maintenance in years to come.
"The fundamental question is, how do we sustain the ministry of [Christ Church] Cathedral?" said David Edwards, who describes the church like a "jewel in the crown" of the downtown area. "One of the options we're looking at is how might we develop and rationalize our buildings."
The church, along with the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton, owns five buildings downtown and a large portion of land known as "the Green," from Church Street to the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge.
"A building like the cathedral, over the next however many hundreds of years it's going to stand there, is going to require maintenance," Edwards said. "As with any old building there are building issues."
The church commissioned a survey that identified problems with the building, but Edwards couldn't elaborate. Overtime, Edwards said the Canadian climate can be particularly hard on stone buildings, such as the cathedral.
What happens next?
Edwards said the money that was held by the cathedral for maintenance was used in a previous project about 20 years ago. It presented the idea of selling both Odell House and Memorial Hall and building condos on Church Street, directly across from the cathedral in November.
Edwards said the church isn't considering selling the portion of the Green it owns at this time. He added that if the church were to sell that land, it wouldn't be sold to someone who wanted to develop it. Edwards said he doesn't believe members of the church or Fredericton residents would want to see that area developed.
Before plans go further, Edwards said there is a lot of discussion that needs to be done, with neighbours of the church and members of the diocese.
From CBC News