Owners eye event space in St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts in Ottawa [Video]

The owners of St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts want to remove the pews to create a 500-person event space in the historic church in Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood, to help address a “growing heritage infrastructure deficit.”

St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts has submitted an application under the Ontario Heritage Act to the City of Ottawa, seeking permission to remove the ground floor pews of the St. Patrick Street church in order to open a “flexible multi-purpose” event space.

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The application, submitted by architect Barry Padolsky on behalf of the St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, says a Building Condition Report prepared in 2023 outlined $18.2 million in the short term, medium term and long-term actions needed to conserve the building’s “deteriorating heritage infrastructure.” The $18.2 million estimate excluded “soft costs” and the renewal of …