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resulting in the church doors and steeple facing in the wrong direction. Also the old church was such a heavy building that, with no foundation, it was sinking into the ground. Perhaps the most influential reason for a new church was the decision to build a Presbyterian Church in Summerside, leaving Lot 16 with a considerable reduction in the size of the congregation and financial resources.

Much of the old church lumber was salvaged for the building of the new church on the same site. Time and thought went into the planning of the new structure. An archi- tect, Mr. T. Ramsay, was hired to design a smaller and simpler church. The contractor for the building was David Kirk, a native of Central Lot 16. Kirk was the son of immigrant James Kirk, (Dumfries, Scotland) and his wife, Catherine MacRae.1 David, who moved to Summerside, was known as a fine craftsman, and throughout his career was involved with the building of a number of Island churches.

Since the old church was torn down to make way for the new one, the congregation was temporarily left with no place of worship. During the summer months, services were held outdoors and, in the fall and winter months, Mr. William Hutchinson of Central opened the doors of his home for wor- ship service. Construction of the existing church began in 1876. Considering the size of the project and the equipment employed by the carpentry trade at the time, Kirk proved him- self a most competent contractor as the church was ready for the first worship service on February 11, 1877, nine months after the decision to build; five years to the month after Robert Milligan’s death.

The names of the members of the building committee are not recorded. The only reference given to the committee was an extension of thanks given to them during the opening ser— vice. Information on the cost of building the new church is limited. Mr. Chalmers (Chum) Hutchinson had stated in an interview a number of years ago, that he believed Mr. Kirk was paid the amount $500 for building the church. Approximately $120 was received for the expense of the erec- tion, “principally from Summerside.”2 This, in itself, is an interesting fact. “Fifty dollars was collected on opening service

CHURCH PROPERTY: PAST AND PRESENT