The Richardsonian Romanesque Paris Presbyterian Church, built in 1894, is a striking landmark in downtown Paris, Ontario. Like many historic churches, it faced a mounting backlog of deferred maintenance and struggled to adapt to changing needs.
Larkin Architect was approached to investigate how the historic building could be revitalized to make it more welcoming, flexible, and community oriented, while simultaneously addressing water infiltration, falling masonry, and an old slate roof. As part of this process, Larkin Architect hosted collective visioning and dialogue sessions to help the community articulate its goals and define the potential of the historic space as a vital part of the town’s social fabric.
Through this collaborative process, it became clear that a thoughtfully renovated and equipped facility could provide Paris with a much-needed space for public events while leaning into its sanctity as a church first. This vision was dubbed the #forParisCentre initiative, an outward-looking commitment to honour the building’s historic significance as well as foster meaningful engagement with the community.
Larkin Architect developed a comprehensive, multi-phase strategy to restore the historic structure and transform it into a vibrant community hub for the broader region.
Existing platform before renovation
Phase 1 began with the interior transformation of the worship space into a multi-functional and accessible event space. The traditional High-Church stage configuration—creating a physical and symbolic separation between congregation and clergy—had limited the sanctuary to formal liturgical use. The goal was to adapt the historic sanctuary for contemporary worship while transforming it into a flexible community venue, without compromising the sanctity of the space.
A single-level thrust stage was introduced to establish an intimate relationship between the stage and audience on all sides and allow it to fulfill multiple uses. Barrier-free access, a sound-dampened stage floor, and carefully detailed wood elements were incorporated to improve functionality while tying the new intervention back to the historic fabric of the sanctuary.
One of the sanctuary’s strongest character-defining elements, the soaring stained-glass ceiling, was meticulously restored along with the plaster ceiling, and incorporated with LED lighting to enhance its back-lit lightbox effect. Integrated AV systems, theatrical lighting, and acoustic treatments completed the transformation, making the hall capable of hosting concerts, theatre, conferences, and recitals.
The result is a 400-seat auditorium with excellent sightlines and sound quality, now regarded as one of the area’s premier mid-sized performance venues.
Phase 2 addressed urgent envelope stabilization, leveraging Larkin Architect’s in-house CAHP-accredited heritage expertise. Larkin Architect provided a costed remediation plan and collaborated closely with heritage contractors to guide the work. This included masonry repairs, slate roof restoration, full eave reconstruction, targeted restoration of windows, and plaster restoration where damage had occurred. Larkin Architect’s pragmatic conservation approach protected the historic fabric while respecting the project’s budget, and created a solid foundation for the next phases.
Significant deterioration of the eaves had resulted in extensive masonry damage, and falling bricks posed concerns for the public safety. Working with heritage buildings requires meticulous attention to detail and knowledge of traditional building techniques of the time. The lead-lined concealed eavestroughs were rebuilt, copper flashing at the roof to wall terminations were redone, and masonry was repaired as needed. Custom brick profiles were replaced with hand-stained sandstone to carefully match the original brickwork, preserving the historic character of the building.
New copper flashing was provided at slate to masonry transitions
Paintings by Jerry Campbell, a neighbour who lives across the street from the church, capture the restoration in progress, bearing witness to a moment in the conservation of a heritage building, when careful intervention reveals both the building’s vulnerability and its enduring value.
Paintings by Jerry Campbell, jerrycampbellpainter@gmail.com
Finally, Phase 3 focused on creating a welcoming entrance and introducing targeted interventions to support effective, multi-purpose community use throughout the building. The ground floor servery and washrooms, which previously crowded the main entrance, were relocated towards the rear of the hall. This enabled the creation of an open lobby with clear views into the double-height “Rose Room” fellowship space, and also allowed the washrooms to be more discretely accessed from the rear of the worship space. The former administrative offices were also relocated to the second floor. These together allowed for a welcoming and functional ground floor for the community to use.
The upper level also accommodates rentable workshare space for non-profit organizations in the community to call home, including The Raw Carrot—a social enterprise that provides catering services and meaningful employment for individuals who face barriers to traditional employment. It also includes a gallery suited to gatherings, functioning as a flexible space for fellowship following Sunday services, as well for other community events such as conferences and receptions.
The basement, previously labyrinthine, was reorganized around a central gathering space, with meeting rooms and classrooms radiating outward. In some rooms, the stone foundations were left exposed, creating warm, inviting spaces that are also available for community meetings and gatherings.
The project has been embraced by both congregation and community, balancing heritage preservation with contemporary use and strengthening the church’s role at the heart of Paris. Paris Presbyterian Church is a wonderful example of a church that opened its doors to the public and the city now sees it as part of its own life as a way to forge meaningful relationships with the community.
