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The End Of Bruce Baptist Church

From the Windsor Daily Star August 26, 1949:

    One of the city’s familiar landmarks has disappeared with the demolition of the tower of the former Bruce Avenue Baptist Church to make way for the new Bethel Pentecostal Church at London Street West and Bruce Avenue. On the new foundation a basement church already in use. The superstructure of the new building, when it is completed, will be another important adornment for the site which has been devoted to church work since the early 1880’s. Above is a view of the tower during the last days of its demolition this month (Star Staff Photo)


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Bruce Avenue Baptist Church moved to Victoria, and built the Temple Baptist Church in the mid 1920’s. That is today the Downtown Mission. The Bethel Pentecostal group rented the Bruce Avenue site for many years before buying it from the Baptists. They then demolished the old Church and built the new one in 1949. Along came arena expropriation, and the site is today a parking lot.

Andrew

View Comments

  • i think this idea the mayor has wanting to put a canal in this western area is the dumbest thing i've ever heard does he really expect this to fly??

  • This church was torn down to build University Gospel Temple. My great-grandfather was one of the people who turned the sod in a ceremony before UGT was built. Eventually, the congregation grew very large and Parkwood Gospel Temple was build off of Central in the late 80s. My mom's side of my family has been involved in that church since the 1920s, when it began in a private home of a pastor.

    UGT was the first church I ever went to and I have very good memories there, and of my great grandmother who was one of the most brilliant and amazing people I've ever met and who passed away in 1990. I have an interior photo of this church that was taken during the early 40s. You can tell it was the early 40s because there were no young men in the congregation - just old folks, women and kids.

    It's really belated, but thanks for posting this Andrew, it really brought back a lot of good memories for me.

  • Also - I believe it was torn down to suit the very large congregation. In the photo I have the place is packed, and that's not even counting all the young men who were fighting in WWII. Beautiful building, but thats the way they did it back then, to them it was progress...

  • To poster me yes it was a blue cross now that you mentioned it as i do remember there was some building there of some type before the parking lot came along an now using it for pool crap. wonder how long it will stay up when done before torn down.

  • The people on here seem to remember that church that was across the street from Tim Hortons on Bruce and University. I remember that church well through the 70s and 80s. I went there a few times with my parents. It had those big cross in front facing University that was made of glass blocks and in the center of the cross was a big air conditioner. A local Windsor band named their band as Luxury Christ because it was odd that an AC unit right in the middle of the cross. I cannot find any photos of that church anywhere on google. Now it's just a parking lot in the same location.

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