Rev. Henry Harper reported the following major renovations in 1909: 5

The interior of St. James’ Church is now being done over anew. The plaster and

laths were taken off the walls. They were then rough boarded and afterwards

sheathed over all. Four sections of the windows were sent to Montreal to be

made into ventilators, and have since been replaced. Mr. William J. Ellis is

doing the work which will when finished reflect much credit to himself, and

much improve the appearance of the interior of the Church, as well as materially

strengthen the building.

The total cost of the above renovations was $700. Upon completion, St. James’ was reopened for divine service on July 17, 1910 with very large congregations at both the morning and the evening services.

A major expenditure of the congregation in 1920 was that of a new furnace, the third to have been installed in the church. The original heating system, supplied by Captain William Richards, was replaced in 1906 with a new furnace donated by Hon. John Yeo. During the summer of 1920, the men of the congregation dug out the basement to make room for two new furnaces. It was hoped that this system would solve the problem of heating the church with its

high Gothic ceiling. A Mr. Lee of Summerside installed the new furnaces at a cost of over

$500:

The furnaces are of the new and up to date design, piples [s_i§], with direct draft, and they are a decided improvement and giving every satisfaction.

A notable improvement to St. James’ in 1924 was that of a new gasoline lighting system. Five years later, the Vestry voted to put a false ceiling in the church. It was concluded that the very high ceiling not only caused heating problems, but was also costly to maintain. The beautiful wood ceiling in St. James’ today is the work of Henry W. Williams of Poplar Grove.

Improvements of later years include the installation of electric lights in 1955, with exterior flood lighting added in 1960. On June 27, 1965, a beautiful set of brass hand rails for the chancel steps was dedicated by the rector, Rev. Delmont A. Yeo. These were a gift of Reginald and Percy Birch in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Birch, and their

two brothers, Ernest and Russel. Hand-wrought iron rails were installed at the main entrance

in 1968.

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