By David Crenna

MacKay United Church Implementation Team

The former MacKay United Church manse at 255 MacKay Street has recently been reincarnated as “New Edinburgh House”, and the Crichton Community Cultural Centre (CCCC’s) has arranged to share the use of Memorial Hall on Dufferin Road for community programming.  Both are very welcome developments for MacKay United Church and for the wider New Edinburgh community of which our Church is a long-standing part. 

It was serendipity that the CCCC needed to find a new home just as MacKay United Church was in the process of selling its manse. Based on comments received by our Implementation Team, members of the congregation are very pleased indeed that the CCCC intends to use this heritage building as a focus for community cultural, recreational, organizational, and other activities. They are also delighted that CCCC will be using available space in the Memorial Hall of the Church much more intensively. This will greatly expand its range of uses and value to the surrounding neighbourhood.

When MacKay United learned the CCCC was unable to pursue the previously planned purchase of 200 Crichton Street, we quickly approached them via Joan Mason, President of NECA, to explore opportunities for cooperation. Then it all came together very quickly from the end of May onward, with everyone on both sides working very hard to make it happen by the beginning of September. We were especially fortunate that a number of people who attended MacKay United, including Ernie Smith, were also active in NECA and helped in the collaboration process by establishing links and building trust.  It also turned out that several members of our respective negotiating team had past or current connections with individual members of the CCCC Board of Directors.  We are also fortunate that some of the key programs that the church has been supporting with space are very compatible with program offerings of the CCCC and can be continued by them. These include the Taylor School of Irish Dance, the New Edinburgh Players, and the MacKay New Edinburgh Playgroup.  Of course, the Church will be continuing its own outreach programs in the shared space, and in particular “High Horizons”, a regular Tuesday program for adults with disabilities.

Of course there have been some inevitable challenges in working out exactly how to manage the Memorial Hall space jointly, but we have worked well together to sort these arrangements out in record time, for the CCCC target start date of September 12.  Credit should go especially to Lynda Hall and Kiki Cliff on behalf of CCCC, who worked closely with Susan Pitt and Norma McCord of MacKay United to clear the Memorial Hall of years of accumulated “stuff”.

Both organizations have been very fortunate indeed to have had the active cooperation of the tenants of the former manse during July and August.  They facilitated everything from the first contacts between MacKay United and the CCCC to their move out of the manse by August 15, well in advance of what is normally called for under Ontario  Landlord and Tenant legislation.  So we are very grateful to our former tenants and to Hummingbird House for graciously agreeing to move, and to re-establish themselves nearby at 204 Stanley Avenue.

At this time the CCCC are established in New Edinburgh House, programming has been launched and the Memorial Hall is being fitted up with a new sprung floor to facilitate dance and fitness classes.

All in all, this is an exciting new venture for both organizations! Short-term leases have now been signed for the manse and the Memorial Hall.  Over the coming months, we fully expect to complete negotiations between the two organizations leading to sale of the manse to the CCCC and a long-term shared-use agreement for the Memorial Hall.  A certain amount of non-sanctuary space in the church building itself may also be included.

Beyond that, we are hoping for synergies between the community organizations and the Church, as well as funding partners over the longer term leading to programs and events we have not yet even imagined: a good news story indeed!