More than 76 years after sod was first turned on a parcel of land in the city’s south side for the Knox-Metropolitan Church, crews were on site knocking down the old structure to make way for a new development.

The Knox-Metropolitan United Church has stood on the corner of 109 Street and 83 Avenue since 1943. On Monday morning, demolition crews were working to tear it down.

The noise of the demolition work came as a surprise to Gloria MacNaughton, who didn’t realize the building was set for demolition before seeing crews at the site.

“I heard this terrible noise and I’m kind of shocked,” MacNaughton said. Her brother lives nearby and she was walking to his house to visit. She never joined the congregation, but had attended services at the church in the past.

“Stained glass window, oak carved pews, very very lovely,” MacNaughton said. “[There was] a lot of history in there.”

Decades in south Edmonton

On August 16, 1942, the sod was turned on the parcel of land north of Whyte Avenue. The church was built to replace the Metropolitan United Church, which burned down on January 1 of that year.

The dedication for the church was held in March 1943.

For decades, the church thrived. More recently, the congregation shrunk and the building began to deteriorate.

“I think the last thing they did was fix the roof, they realized the building had tilted instead of going to the north it had tilted to the south, so the foundation was failing,” developer Dave Dyrbye told CTV News.

“It’s coming down very easily when you’re demolishing it; the building has no insulation anywhere.”

Crews also found two time capsules in the walls of the church. Those will be turned over to the city archives.

Dyrbye bought the property from the congregation in 2016. The city has recently given the green light for his planned development.

New mixed-use high rise

In its place, Dyrbye plans to build a high rise called The Artisan.

“The Artisan is going to be a nine storey steel and concrete building, with micro suites,” Dyrbye said.

The ground floor facing 109 Street will be redeveloped with commercial spaces, and the rest will be residential.

Dyrbye said the micro suites will be about 450 square feet each, saying they were aimed towards the university student crowd.

Work on The Artisan is set to begin in the spring.

With files from Nicole Weisberg