A couple who want to transform a heritage-designated church in Victoria West into a performing arts centre are hoping to fill a need for performance spaces in the community.
David and Karen Beales, owners of Maple Leaf Ballet School, have applied to rezone the church property at 310 Henry St. for use as the St. Saviour’s Centre for the Arts.
The proposal will go to public hearing before a decision is made by city council.
“Our future plans are to turn it into a centre where there will be choirs and string quartets and music performances,” Karen Beales said.
The couple live in the adjacent church rectory and get many requests from artists and musicians to use the church and the church hall, she said.
“There’s a lot of need in Vic West. There are a lot of artists around, but nowhere to perform,” Beales said.
The church will seat 196 people and the church hall will accommodate an audience of 160.
The couple plan to expand the ballet school and have performances in the church and the hall.
“It brings professional ballet training to Vancouver Island. This is the only school that offers Russian ballet training,” Beales said.
The original stained glass and pews have been retained in the church, and Beales is hoping it will be used for weddings of couples who are not attached to a particular church but want a church atmosphere.
Under the proposal, certain of the church’s historic elements, such as the 1882 pipe organ and the vaulted ceilings, will be protected.
The central kitchen, which was used for the Rainbow Kitchen Society to serve meals to the needy, will be retained and used as a small café for students and patrons.
The church property has no off-street parking, and planning and land use committee members raised some questions about the impact of the performing arts centre on parking in the area which is primarily unrestricted.
City planning staff expect the demand for parking for dance studio events will be similar to parking demand during the previous church services, although they will be spread throughout the week and not just on Sundays. However, it’s anticipated there will only be two major special events a year that would draw about 150 cars.
Brad Delebur, city acting assistant director of transportation, said there’s probably no need to increase the pockets of residential parking-only restrictions that exist in the area but it’s something staff will watch.
“It’s trying to find that balance. We don’t want to overly restrict it [parking]. We’d like to make sure that parking is available for everybody. To date, the position of the city has been that we want to respect the residential integrity of the neighbourhood and not have it overrun and have it be a de facto employee parking lot.”
Established in 1891 as an army garrison church, St. Saviour’s was one of nine properties put up for sale, listed at $850,000, in 2012 by the Anglican Diocese of B.C. to reduce its debt.
Ultimately, five of the nine church properties sold, helping to wipe out an accumulated debt of $1.2 million. Other properties that sold included:
- St. Martin-in-the-Field on Obed Avenue in Saanich, listed at nearly $1.2 million, purchased by the Victoria Full Gospel Fellowship.
- St. Alban’s on Ryan Street in Victoria, listed at $1.25 million, zoned for single-family housing and bought by a developer.
- Church of the Holy Spirit on Carey Road in Saanich, listed at $1.4 million, purchased by New Life Community Fellowship.
- Brentwood Memorial Chapel Hall on Sea Drive in Central Saanich, listed at $385,000, sold to a private individual.
Additional reporting by Bill Cleverley
