Deer Park Church Rehabilitation

Heritage Revival Through Adaptive Reuse

Property Owner: The Imperial

Project Date of Completion: November 2024

The Deer Park Presbyterian Church building was designed by Sharp and Brown Architects and completed in 1912, with later additions on the south in 1931 and on the east in 1961. The congregation vacated and deconsecrated the church in 2008, and a redevelopment process was initiated in 2010 which was approved in 2015, and the building was partially demolished in 2017 to make way for a residential development to the south which was completed in 2022. The conservation work and landscape were completed in 2024, and the adaptive reuse for a restaurant and event space opened earlier this year.

Designated under part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 2010, and subject to a Heritage Easement Agreement, the building is a companion to the designated and adaptively reused Imperial Plaza to the east. The conservation included extensive cleaning and repair of stone and matte-finished terra cotta, replacement of slate and copper roofs, refurbishment of historic lighting, wood doors and stained glass. The building appears unchanged from St. Clair, but the interior of the former church is radically transformed with a portion of the sanctuary now an open-air courtyard and privately owned public space. It is framed by original stone walls and side aisles on east and west, a glass enclosed former balcony and narthex on the north, now a restaurant/event space and the new residential building to the south. The rehabilitation of this former church creates a different type of gathering place with new hospitality and residential uses overlooking it.