The seller of a historic church on Essex Street has decided to give a local black heritage organization more time to come up with the money to buy the church.
The Guelph Black Heritage Historical Foundation, which formed when it learned that the historic stone church was on the market, learned in December that the property’s owners had accepted its offer. The offer, one of a number of purchase offers received by the current owner of the British Methodist Episcopal Church, was conditional on financing, with a deadline of Jan. 16.
This week, the church’s realtor, Bob Lucas, announced that the deadline has been extended.
“The seller has agreed to and signed an amendment extending the conditions through to Friday Jan. 27 at 6 p.m.,” Lucas wrote in an email received Tuesday by the Tribune.
The foundation hopes to restore and preserve the building as a piece of Guelph’s black history. Built in 1880, the church sits in a residential neighbourhood that was once Guelph’s black neighbourhood. It was connected with the Underground Railroad, providing a haven for fugitive U.S. slaves.
Currently, it is the home of the Bethany Baptist Church, which holds weekly Bible study and Sunday services there.
The foundation plans to operate the building as the Underground Railroad Church of Guelph, a news release said. It hopes to “continue the building’s legacy as a spiritual sanctuary, return it to being a meeting place for the city’s African diaspora,” and open it as a neighourhood resource, it said. The church would join other underground railroad churches in southern Ontario “in reforging the links of the anti-slavery movement in Canada,” it said.
The foundation is accepting pledges and intents-to-donate towards the $200,000 purchase price and future operational costs.
Those interested in donating to the project are asked to email blackheritageguelph@gmail.com.