FILE PHOTO - Benvoulin Heritage Church

(JENNA HICKMAN / iNFOnews.ca)

A historic Kelowna church that’s nearly as old as Canada is turning 130 this year and getting a big birthday party.

The Benvoulin Heritage Church was built in 1892 and is one of the oldest buildings in town. It, and the land it sits on off of Benvoulin Road, is owned and maintained by the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, which is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Canada as a country turned 155 this July.

The church was originally built in 1892, with money provided by the Aberdeen family. When Lady Aberdeen came to Kelowna to visit her brother, Coutts Majoribanks who had moved to Kelowna months prior, she realized there was no church for him to attend, leading to the building of the Benvoulin Heritage Church.

It was constructed to look like the Crathie Kirk church in Aberdeen, Scotland. Initially a Bethel Presbyterian Church, the building has held at least three variations of the Christian faith. In 1925 it joined the United Church, and currently an Anglican service is held every Sunday. It’s also a popular wedding venue in the Central Okanagan.

Raising the steeple of the church - date not known.

Image Credit: Contributed

However, it was almost demolished in the 1980s as it was "pretty much abandoned" for 20 years after the 1960s. The fire department was going to demolish it before the founder of the heritage society, Dr. Walter Anderson, raised $80,000 to save it, said current president Don Knox, of the heritage society. The society was founded on saving the church.

On Nov. 10, the heritage society will be hosting an Evening with Anna in celebration of its roots, with a performance from Anna Jacyszyn Trio performing Ella Fitzgerald inspired jazz, a short pictorial History of Benvoulin Heritage Church and some “bites, bubbly, brews and vints.” Tickets are $65 and can be purchased online.

Maintaining heritage is expensive, Knox said. This year, they spent $20,000 on the gardens and the roof will need to be redone with cedar since it’s a historic site.

“Kelowna is not only a very new city but on the bigger picture it was the poorer city back in the day up until about the 1950s. It was about the same size as Vernon and smaller than Penticton and certain steps, the opening of the Hope-Princeton highway, made a difference, the opening of the airport in the late 1940s made a difference,” Knox said.

READ MORE: How the founding of Kelowna airport 75 years ago turned the city around

Kelowna didn’t have as many quality buildings and many were lost in the 1960s, he said.

“The connection to the people who were responsible for building the city is very important as well… I think it’s important to realize why things developed where they were, why we have so many open green spaces and why that’s still important.”

The heritage society has also focused on European settlement so in the last few years, they’ve been collaborating with local Indigenous communities to also share Syilx history and other communities in the Central Okanagan.

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