The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 20, Whitby Free Press, Wednosday, Deoember 14, 1994 cc- >~L~' N% Savirig the past for the future J .~ .* .* ... *. ~. *. .*..*.*..*. *. , Formner ch urch now bed and breakfast -By Whitby LACAC The building at 508 John St. W. is the second Roman Catholic church to be built on this site. Construction of the first church began in the late summer of 1867. The coat of the church was between $3,000 and $4,000. Mass was firet celebrated in the church in the spriniz of 1868. The church was designed by prominent Canadian architect Henry Langley of Toronto. Ho designed rnany churches, including Ail Saints' Anglican Church in Whitby and St. Thomias Anglican Church in Brooklin, priznarily for Protestant congregations. His selection as the architect for St. John's nay in part indicate the substantial Protestant funding which the original church received. Tragedy struck on the night of Dec. 9, 1901 when the church was destroyed b y fire. The fire started in the northeast corner,, perhaps where there was a steve te, heat the church. By the next morning there was nothing left but the brick walls. Langley's original plans were followed te, build a new church, probably on the original foundation. The cornerstene at the southeast corner is believed te be the original corneretene. Langley's drawings for the church are in the Provincial Archives of Ontario. On Dec. 14, 1902 the second St. John's church was officially opened. Old photographs show that the church did have a belfry but it was rernoved sometime after 1912. During the 1930s, the name of the church was changed to, St. Bernard's. The change was te, try te, eliminate the confusion of having two St. John's churches in Whitby -- the other being St. John's Anglican Church in Port Whib an increase in the population in the 1950s, the church on John Street becarne overcrowded and a new church was needed.. An ultra-modern St. John the Evanigelist Church was opened on Giffard Street in December, 1958. The congregation decided te convert the old church into a hall called the 'Amber Room' and rent it eut for various functions. This required several alterations te be done te the old church. A cernent block ldtchen was ST. JOHN'S Roman Cathollo Church at the corner of Palace and John streets was converted into a residence in 1975. The photo shows the church in 1955 when it housed Whitby's only Catholic congregation. It was bulit in 1902 on the site of an earlier church that burned down. Whitby Archives photo added te the back, and the plumbing and electrical wiring were upgraded. After 16 years, another decision was made to elo the building. The new owners made many more alternations to the building te convert it te a residence. The front two-thirds of the nave was divided, with a second floor added. The rose window over the front door has been bricked over on the exterior. The original window and its frame remain intact without itsz glass. The present owiner, Ann Stapleford, is using the building as a bed and breakfast. The evolution of this building, fromn the original 1867 church te, the present bed and breakfast use, it remarkable. The building i the oly example of a chuch being converted into a residence in, WVhitby. On March 14, 11994, Town council designated the church as having historic and architectural value in consultation with the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LA.CAC). LACAC is a committee that advise8 Town council on heritage matters.