'Invasion of our worship space': Saskatoon church seeks to remove heritage protections on 110-year-old organ

Sask. church wants to remove heritage organ WATCH: A Saskatoon church is asking the city to remove heritage protections on its 110-year-old pipe organ.

The 110-year-old organ at the former Third Avenue United Church will remain untouched after an attempt to remove its designation as a historical heritage asset was denied Wednesday.

The St. Vincent of Lerins Orthodox Church, which moved into the church two years ago, was seeking to remove the organ for renovations to would complete its worshipping space.

Since the organ is included in a heritage designation bylaw, it requires the city's permission for any work.

"We want to build, we want to create a worship space that is an Orthodox worship space," Father Herman Fields said to city council Wednesday.

"It's not a museum. It's not a publicly owned building. It's private property and it belongs to a community who have their spiritual home there."

The 1913 Casavant organ has fallen into disrepair in recent years. Fields said Orthodox Christians don't play musical instruments in their churches, and no one has come forward requesting to play the organ. He said it doesn't have a future as a musical instrument, and any repairs to make it playable aren't in his or the church's interests.

"It's not going to get refurbished. It's not going to get repaired. It would be an immense invasion of our worship space to take it apart and do those repairs," he said.

Quotes from the parish council include $27,000 to make the organ playable, $300,000 to revive it back to concert-level playability and an additional $5,000 annual maintenance to keep it functional.

"Preserving the building, its history and its functionality as a church is completely possible even if the organ is removed," parishioner Deanna Bertrand said.

Michelle Aalders was the organist at Third Avenue United Church for 15 years. She described the organ's 2468 pipes and 39 bells that provided the soundtrack to hundreds of weddings, church services and concerts during that time, marvelling at the sound of the organ specifically designed and built for that space.

She said St. Lerins knew of the organ's heritage status when it purchased the building, and should be its caretakers.

"Once the organ is removed, it will be too late and an irreversible decision that goes against everything the protection of heritage is meant to do," she said.

"It is an intricate, complicated, magnificent instrument that can't just be boxed up and stored for display."

Fields said the building was mainly purchased because of the large spaces in the basement for church school, and the organ "was a difficult thing to accept," but the church ultimately decided to move ahead with the purchase.

"It was a big compromise on our part, we're asking you to reconsider that compromise," Fields said.

Councillors questioned if the church had plans to remove the organ when it purchased the building and what the state of the organ will be moving forward given the church's reluctance to allow people in to repair or play the instrument.

"I believe you bought the wrong building," Coun. David Kirton said.

"I'm hoping that there will be some way in which your church can work with the community to at least maintain that organ."