1918 – Knox United Church, Central Park, Winnipeg

A fine example of the Collegiate Gothic style applied to a church alongside Central Park in downtown Winnipeg. Constructed between 1914 and 1918 as a Presbyterian Church, a project made longer by the First World War, it was designed by prominent Winnipeg architect John Hamilton Gordon Russell. The interior of the church auditorium has curved pews set on a bowled floor between wide aisles, and a large, cantilevered balcony with sloped seating. Missing a piece of its tower since a lightning strike some years ago.

The Early English Gothic character of the exterior shows but little use of ornamental detail, the whole scheme depending largely for effectiveness upon its simplicity of treatment, and the judicious use of the Tyndall stone facework, which shows to advantage in the perpendicular lines throughout, and is especially exemplified in the towers. The main tower rises to a height of approximately one hundred and forty-six feet above the sidewalk, and from the entrance arched doorways to the large louvred arched openings around the belfry, terminating with pinnacled embattlement at the roof, the severe detail has been maintained throughout.

The interior construction of the church is of reinforced concrete, and the roof is carried on steel trusses. The interior finish is of birch, stained in walnut; the vestibules and foyer have tile floors with marble base, and the stairs to gallery are of reinforced concrete, with marble tread risers and strings.

Broad flights of stone steps lead up to the entrances, that open into spacious vestibules, through which one i)asses into the foyer, which is large and comfortable and warm, and cheerful in color treatment, and is more than a passageway to and from the auditorium; it is also a gathering place after services and provides the means for social intercourse inside the church building, and nowhere is this more exemplified than in the arrangement of the gallery stairs. The dominant feature of the foyer is the Gothic screen, through which five sets of double doors give access to the main auditorium, eighty feet wide, and with a seating capacity for eight hundred and ten persons. The seats are run on a curved radius, set on a bowled floor, which allows of a clear vision to every occupant.

The gallery has a seating capacity for an additional four hundred and twenty persons, and is of reinforced concrete construction, supported by large cantilever beams, which eliminates the necessity of columns to support its eight-foot span over the auditorium.
Construction, November 1917

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