18 ~ Sunday, June 14, 1987 - North Shore News

ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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THE PARISH of St. John the
Evangelist is celebrating the com-
pletion of the — striking new St.
John the Evangelist Church
located at 209 West 13th Street in
North Vancouver with an open
house June 15 to 19.

The original 75-year-old wood-
structure church was gutted in a
fire Feb. 8, 1985.

The church congregation con-
tinued to meet after the fire
destroyed the original church at

Ouse

the nearby Memorial Hall.

Feb. & of this vear, exactly two
years to the day after the original
historic church was destroyed by
fire, Archbishop Douglas Ham-
bidge presided over the laying of a
granite cornerstone for the newly
constructed church.

The new church is the result of a
close collaboration between the
long-established congregation of
St. John’s and Watson-Donald
Architects.

Slate:

The church is an expression of
the traditional values of what a
church should be, modified by a
renewed sense of the role of the
church in a modern society.

“It took a couple of months to
develop the design. The whole
congregation had to approve the
design,’’ said architect Keith Wat-
son-Donald.

The new building is a play be-
tween two contrasting materials —
pumice block walls, solid and light

neutralizing, which are punctuated
ana split by tall towers of glass or
walis of stained glass, components
that transmit light.

“The intent was to make it come
off as both traditional and mod-
ern,” said Watson-Donald.

The building is an assembly of

diverse but harmonious elements.
Some are incorporated as a memo-
rial to the old church salvaged
from the recent fire, while others
return to components of early ec-

it poe

clesiastical medieval and baroque
architecture.

The new design does away with
the traditional long rectangular
nave with rows of pews branching
off of a central aisle. Pews in the
new church are wrapped around
the sanctuary in amphitheatre
fashion, creating a sense of
togetherness and belonging within
the church community.

“You design a church from the
inside out,’* said Watson-Donald.

fms food oe

institutional -

commercial - residential

OPEN HOUSE :
dune 15-19

the Evangelist

209 West 13th St., North Vancouver, Rev. Raymond Murrin

¢ GENERAL CONTRACTOR ¢
MIERAU Construction Ltd.

201-31157 Peardonviile Rd.

Abbotsford, B.C.

° MECHANICAL «

ALPHA MECHANICAL

8180 Winston St., Burnaby
420-5341 .

¢ ELECTRICAL
WESTALL ELECTRIC

1046 17th St., W.Van

926-5625

853-4665

e ALUMINIUM «

{windows, sk; lights, glass and glazing)

ALUGLASS

3811 Myrtle St., Burnaby

430-2522