Hamilton’s Municipal Heritage Committee plans to move quickly to designate the First Pilgrim United Church at 200 Main Street East in Downtown Hamilton.
During the Committee’s February 28 meeting, Vice-Chair Graham Carroll stated “I’m hearing that the congregation is looking at closing First Pilgrim Church on Main Street East.”
“I think we should probably keep watch on it and see if they are going to close and what’s going to happen to it.”
The Committee previously listed the building as a “high-priority” for designation. The designation report is scheduled for presentation on March 28.
First-Pilgrim United Church was created by a merger of the First United and Pilgrim United congregations in 1981.
First Place, the 25-storey building at 360 King Street East was constructed by First United Church following a devastating 1969 fire that destroyed the church’s buildings at King and Wellington.
First Place opened in 1976, and First United held its services on the second floor before the 1981 merger.
The merged congregation remained committed to creating affordable housing.
In 1992, they opened Central Place at 185 Jackson Street East and Pilgrim Place at 206 Jackson Street East.
In 2006, the non-profit corporation the church created to operate First Place went into receivership. The City of Hamilton acquired full ownership of the building.
Church Closures Continue
Church attendance has significantly decreased for many traditional Christian churches.
Many churches have closed, many have been demolished, and a few have been converted into market housing.
The United Church has been working to see their former church lands repurposed into housing that serves community needs.
Heritage advocates oppose demolitions.
St. Giles in East Hamilton closed in 2013 after its congregation merged with Centenary United Church on Main Street at MacNab Street.
The new congregation, New Vision United Church, planned to redevelop the St. Giles site into a mixed-income housing community, including below-market units, and use the proceeds to renew the downtown church building to serve the congregation and be a public music venue.
In 2017, Council agreed to allow the site’s redevelopment in exchange for mixed-income housing and the revitalization of Centenary United Church on Main Street at MacNab Street.
Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Green supported the plan. When elected in 2018, Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann also supported it.
Heritage advocates mobilized, and the Municipal Heritage Committee said it would seek to designate the church.
The designation process was paused while the committee negotiated with the church.
Eight years later, the church building remains on site—vacant, talks are paused, and the planned mixed-affordable housing project has been shelved.
The heritage church at Main and MacNab is surrounded by fencing due to concerns about parts of the facade masonry falling from the structure, and the congregation is struggling to finance improvements.
Presently, the United Church of Canada’s development partner, Kindred Works, is working on a 12-storey, 176-unit rental building in West Hamilton that will replace Binkley United Church.
Hamilton’s Design Review Panel responded positively to the proposal during a December meeting.
The next Municipal Heritage Committee meeting is Friday, March 28, 2025 at 12 noon.
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Published: March 12, 2025
Last updated: March 12, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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