Landmark Building
WESLEY METHODIST CHURCH
11715-102 Avenue, Edmonton
Designed By: Magoon and McDonald
Built in 1912
In the spring of 1907 a member of the downtown McDougall Methodist Church began a Sunday school for children of fellow West End congregation members in her 115 Street home. This quickly proved too small, and a tent was erected on 116 Street and 100 Avenue. Since it was convenient for West Enders, services began to be held there as well. With cold weather approaching, a small frame church was built on 114 Street north of Jasper Avenue that fall. Once again, the space was outgrown, and a tent was erected outside this Sunday school. Tired of such solutions, and anticipating continued expansion in the West End, land for a larger permanent Sunday school and Church building was purchased.
In 1912 the architectural firm of Magoon and McDonald which had designed the McDougall Church, drew up plans for a Gothic Revival Style church and Sunday school. Revival styles were common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gothic Revival Styles were especially popular for churches. Unlike Robertson Presbyterian, this building draws on two stylistic sources – the medieval Gothic Style and the domestic architecture of rural England. The Gothic influence can be seen in the pointed arches, buttresses, and tracery. The domestic influence is seen in the decorated vergeboards and half-timbering. Little remains of the stained glass window, or the polished brass railings and intricately carved oak trim of the interior.
The building cost $40,000 and was opened January 27, 1913. It was never intended to be a church. This explains the words “Wesley Sunday School” over the door, and the lack of the bell tower most churches had. The church was to be just to the south, on land that had already been purchased. After 1913 a large church was not a sound financial proposition, especially in light of the decline in population which accompanied the hard economic times. The interior of the Sunday school was adapted to seat 450 on the main floor and an additional 150 in the balcony.
World War I and the Great Depression put an end to plans for a new church. The merger of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches into the United Church of Canada in 1925 made the amalgamation of the Wesley and Robertson congregations a foregone conclusion. Though discussions had begun as early as 1970, as Robertson-Wesley United, and in 1971 Wesley United Church was sold.
Throughout its history, the Wesley Church had strong presence in the community. During the 1918 influenza epidemic which swept Edmonton, the basement served as a laundry, with members doing the washing for afflicted families. Noteworthy members of Wesley United Church included the famous Canadian suffragette Nellie McClung, who joined the congregation in 1912 and taught women’s bible study classes in the 1920s, and the Muttart family, who made major financial donations to the Church.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Historical Walking Tours of Downtown, 2004, Centennial edition of the brochure. Planning and Development Department, City of Edmonton, and Alberta Community Development., 2004, with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.