old buildings | nichepoetryandprose

poetry and prose about place

Posts Tagged ‘old buildings’

Open to the Skies: a new novel by Jane Tims

Since I retired, one subject has particularly interested me – the loss of older church buildings from our landscape. As new buildings are constructed to house congregations, and older buildings become less useful because of small size, aging construction or antiquated heating systems, decisions are made to retire and deconsecrate historic churches. As with other older buildings, the choices are few: rehabilitation, repurposing, or demolition.

My new book, published by Merlin Star Press in New Brunswick, is the fictional story of one of these churches. In ‘Open to the Skies,’ a couple in transition to a simpler way of life, encounters an old church about to be abandoned and perhaps demolished. Sadie and Tom decide to purchase the church and move it, a few kilometres down the road, to their new property. They intend to turn the church into a writers’ retreat.

In the process, they encounter a community uncertain about how it wants to proceed. Some want to give the church a new life, others are dead set against repurposing a building where their children have been baptized and married. Others in the community are motivated by a conservationist mentality and one very difficult fellow has an ownership claim against the property where the church has stood for over one hundred years.

The church itself has a history and mythology, to be understood by anyone taking it over. In the church’s story includes a mysterious blue toy truck and a young boy who turns up at strange times. The threats of fire and violent protest also haunt Sadie and Tom as they undertake repurposing of the church.

I will be presenting my new book at launches and signings in the coming months. These will include a signing event at Dog Eared Books in Oromocto, New Brunswick on November 15th and a reading in Fredericton later in November. I would be so happy to see you there! The book is now available from Dog Eared Books in Oromocto and from Merlin Star Press https://www.merlinstarpress.com/home/bookstore

I’ll be keeping you up to date on my book, its availability, and any readings.

All my best!

Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra)

Written by jane tims

October 23, 2025 at 1:26 pm

Posted in abandoned spaces, Books by Jane Tims, sacred spaces

Tagged with church, community drama, conservation of buildings, old buildings, old church, Open to the Skies, saving an old church

abandoned buildings

with 2 comments

We are living in a time when many of our older buildings are reaching the end of their useful lives. Old churches, old covered bridges, old schools and old houses are everywhere, facing the indignity of old age. So many succumb, end up in landfills or as rotting derelicts. Yet these are buildings where history whispers. Buildings with stories to tell, our stories.

abandoned church

highbush cranberry

first, fruit hard and green

then, red, ready for wine

then shriveled raisins

hang on a leafless vine

the wick of a candle stub

competes with cobwebs

for thickness, thin sunlight

oozes, amber glass, a saber

along the empty aisle

threatens motes

in stale air undisturbed

where stray wind never

finds its way

deconsecrated and so

not desecrated when mice

squeeze under the threshold

gnaw at the pulpit, or when

vines whisper

vague obscenities

at the lintel, tap on glass

stripped of cross and steeple

people, prayers

stained glass and benches

removed and sold at auction

mice pause at their industry

to assess ambiguous whispers

the young girl who sat on the stair

sang a song to her mother

the warden who argued to fix

the seep in the roof

the Minister

who stuttered

Written by jane tims

March 5, 2018 at 7:00 am

Posted in abandoned spaces

Tagged with abandoned church, art, landscape, nature, old buildings, old church, pencil drawing, poetry

early schooling – the fate of older buildings

with 10 comments

Since our first drive to the Grand Lake area to find old schools in the landscape, we have kept an eye out for others. I am realising these buildings have met one of three fates:

demolition – lost forever to the landscape
deterioration – left to decay and eventual collapse
re-purposing – restoration and maintenance for use as camps, sheds or community use

For example, the Bunker Hill School in Rusagonis, New Brunswick has been well maintained and is used as a meeting place in the community. The old school has been recently painted and has a wheel-chair ramp.

Bunker Hill School, Rusagonis Station, Sunbury County, New Brunswick

The conservation of older buildings in the landscape is problematic. They have historical value, create community character, and serve as a reminder of the past. On the other hand, for derelict buildings without purpose, liability soon exceeds value. We are at a time in our history when the buildings associated with growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are succumbing to the vagaries of time. Older designs, although often sturdy, are not energy-efficient and don’t always fit our modern ideas of efficiency and convenience, or our 21st century need for parking areas, central heating, and convenient washrooms. As a result many older buildings, including churches, schools, halls and stores are lost from the landscape.