TORONTO — As investigators work to determine the cause of a devastating fire at a historic Toronto church, community members and art experts are mourning the loss of a sacred space that housed unique artwork by members of the Group of Seven. The Sunday morning blaze caused massive damage at St. Anne's Anglican Church, a national historic site where "extraordinary" early paintings by three Group of Seven members and other prominent Canadian artists were installed along the interior in the 1920s.
The murals decorated the chancel and the dome, which was destroyed in the blaze. No one was inside the church at the time. “To be honest, it's heart-wrenching to come up here to see the church like this," St.
Anne's rector Father Don Beyers said in an interview near the building Monday as the smell of ashes lingered in the air. "I almost felt sick to my stomach to see it," he said, adding that church members are "incredibly hurt and sad." The distinctive central dome of the Byzantine-style church built in the early 1900s is now gone, its interior appears to be gutted, and the brick walls are damaged but still standing.
A few members of the church staff, accompanied by firefighters, were seen carrying documents out of the building on Monday. Toronto police said the fire is not being treated as suspicious at this time, although investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause. The Office of the Fire Marshal said Monday it's too early to make any conclusions.
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