BANFF – Fire ripped through Banff’s historic Rundle Memorial United Church late last week, completely destroying the kitchen and causing significant damage to other areas of the church.
The thrift store is closed until further notice, the Rundle Playschool has been temporarily relocated to Banff Elementary School’s after-school program space, and church services will be held at Canmore’s Ralph Connor United Church until further notice.
“It’s so sad, but the fire department was amazing and they were really quick on the response,” said Marlo Reid-Gibson, the church’s property chair.
“I was told that we were five minutes away from losing that whole beautiful 1920s iconic building.”
The fire department was called to the church at the corner of Banff Avenue and Buffalo Street just after 8:30 p.m. on Friday (March 15).
In total, 17 firefighters, including the pump crew, were on scene for about 2.5 hours battling the blaze.
When Deputy Fire Chief Keri Martens arrived, she said she was met by three staff from the thrift store who told her they were locking up for the night when they noticed flames in the kitchen in the basement.
“Looking inside, I could see smoke had filled the upper half of the room in the basement, which houses the thrift store, and staff were able to confirm that everyone was outside and safe,” said Martens.
“Crews arrived, quickly made entry to the kitchen area and were able to knock down the flames and extinguish the fire. Fire was contained to the room of origin.”
The fire department says the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but the church says it was accidental and may have been caused by a space heater in the kitchen.
The thrift store first opened its doors in its current form in August 2009 in the Ark Room on the lower level of Rundle Memorial United Church. It was created as the 30-plus year-old rummage sales at the church needed a more permanent presence in the community.
Residents look for great bargains on clothing, footwear, games, toys, music, movies, books, sporting goods, bedding, furniture, electronics, housewares, craft supplies and unique collectible items.
While the thrift store hall did not burn in last Friday's fire, Reid-Gibson said everything has to be disposed of because of smoke and other damage.
“It all has to go,” she said.
With the thrift store closed for the foreseeable future, the church asks that residents refrain from dropping off further donations until closer to re-opening.
“People are so generous, and as soon as we can take stuff again, we will let people know,” said Reid-Gibson, noting the church is accepting financial donations at ralphconnor.ca
“People love their thrift store, and love giving stuff to the thrift store, and love shopping at the thrift store, and we will be happy to accept stuff again in a few months. I just don’t know how many months.”
While most at the thrift store are volunteers, there are some paid staff.
“We’ve had to say ‘I’m sorry, we’re not going to have a job for you for the next little while’,” said Reid-Gibson.
“For a lot of them, that’s their second job, so it’s going to cut into the affordability situation, which really sucks.”
The Town of Banff helped secure a temporary location for the displaced playschool at Banff Elementary School in the area used for the after-school program.
A Banff music retreat spring program and church choir have also been displaced.
“And then, of course, Sunday service will be in Canmore until further notice,” said Reid-Gibson.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to do something where we seal off the bottom of the church, like the part that’s really burnt, and then be able to have the upstairs resume as normal.”
A church has stood on the present building’s location since 1886, the first to be built in Banff. It was originally a Methodist congregation, then a Local Union Church from 1916 until the formation of The United Church of Canada in 1925.
The present building was constructed in 1927. The church was renamed in 1941 after Rev. Robert T. Rundle, the first Christian missionary to arrive in Banff, from Cornwall, England from 1840-1848.
As of Jan. 1, 2023, the Rundle Memorial United Church in Banff and Ralph Connor Memorial United Church in Canmore officially amalgamated to become one church with two campuses under the Ralph Connor name.
