A fire broke out inside St. Mark鈥檚 Church on Hamilton Terrace starting at 11 p.m. Jan. 26, according to Police Constable Luke Leballeur. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Leballeur said electrical engineers are scheduled to inspect the water system inside the church today, and 鈥渢he footpaths will hopefully be open tomorrow.鈥�
Naomi Kuagben, a local resident, said she attended Sunday mass at St. Mark鈥檚 Jan. 22, as she has done regularly since Christmas. She said she noticed the church was unusually cold due to a fault in the heating system, a technical failure that may have caused the fire.
鈥淭here was no heating at all,鈥� Kuagben said. 鈥淭hey were bringing in people this week to look at it, actually.鈥�
Paint & Sip, a social event for the neighborhood, was also canceled Jan. 21 due to an issue with the heating, according to the
Lucas Bloom (鈥�23), a resident on Hamilton Terrace, said he started to smell smoke while walking his dog and knew the situation had escalated when he heard sirens after 11 p.m. He said he knew the fire had burned through the spire because 鈥渢he top of the church was a completely different color to the rest of it.鈥�
That sick feeling I had, that helpless feeling I had watching that ancient church burn and being unable to do anything about it.
— Performing Arts Teacher Lorraine Davis
Bloom said the fire is unfortunate for the local neighborhood since 鈥渆verybody knows where that church was鈥� and it will 鈥渄efinitely be sad for the rest of the community.鈥�
Meanwhile, Performing Arts Teacher Lorraine Davis said she felt 鈥渟hock and denial鈥� when she found out about the church burning down.
鈥淚t was a mix of disbelief and wishing it wasn’t true,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭hat sick feeling I had, that helpless feeling I had watching that ancient church burn and being unable to do anything about it.鈥�
Davis said the Chamber Orchestra and Concert Choir have previously rehearsed and performed in St. Mark鈥檚 Church. She said the Chamber Orchestra most recently performed in the church last spring for their final concert of the year.
鈥淲e just played there it feels like, and it stops my heart to think that all of that is now ash,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚t is beautiful and it had a very fine acoustic with so many beautiful wooden surfaces and wooden ceilings that are all gone now.鈥�
Sabina Peterson Rajalingam (鈥�25), who is part of the Chamber Orchestra, also said the burning of the church has a personal impact, considering all of the school performances that have taken place there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tradition after the music tour to go and play there and recap everything that we have done,鈥� Rajalingam said. 鈥淥bviously, ASL has done lots of performances with orchestra, band and choir in the church, and so it’s very close to home.鈥�
ASL has done lots of performances with orchestra, band and choir in the church, and so it’s very close to home.
— Sabina Peterson Rajalingam (鈥�25)
Davis said, despite the elegance of the Victorian church space, the local community had made it feel 鈥渧ery homey and comforting.鈥�
Davis said the local people are the backbone of the church. Although she said the loss of the building is saddening, she said the community will rebuild itself over time.
鈥淪o many people brought their hearts to that building that to lose that building is a profound loss,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚 have faith that the people will figure out how to go on and maybe not rebuild literally, but rebuild as a community and come up with some next steps.鈥�
Due to the strong connection that the school had built with the church, Davis said it is crucial to support the church鈥檚 community during this difficult time.
鈥淚t’s a church that has always loved music, so they’ve been good neighbors to us,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淎nd I strongly feel that the call will come for us to be good neighbors to them as they rebuild.鈥�
