Key Number:	HS 31630
Site Name:	Raymond Mormon Church / Latter-day Saints Park Avenue Chapel
Other Names:
Site Type:	1603 - Religious: Church, Cathedral or Chapel

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			6	20	4

Address:	4 Park Avenue
Number:	N/A
Street:	N/A
Avenue:	Park
Other:
Town:	Raymond
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:
Storeys:	Storeys: 2 1/2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Brick
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	High Gable
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	Plentiful decorative sandstone inlays in brick, forming checkerboard patterning, gable parapets, Jacobethan Styling), central octagonal cupola on joint of ridges, multiple dormers.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Between commercial core and residential area in Raymond, next to old Mormon School (now Buddhist Temple).
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed	1929/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Church	1929/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
The Town of Raymond

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Broadway S Church Avenue (Old address?) Styling and brickwork similar to other Mormon churches in Alberta, however, this one has unusual plan shape (Y) and is larger than most. * * * RESOURCE Latter-day Saints Park Avenue Chapel ADDRESS Raymond BUILT 1901 STATUS Provincial Historic Resource HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE The Town of Raymond was founded in 1901 by Utah businessman, Jesse Knight as part of the third wave of Mormon settlement in southern Alberta. In Knights’ plans for the region, Raymond was to serve as a processing centre for the sugar beets which would be grown in the area by the new Mormon settlers. In 1903, western Canada’s first sugar beet processing factory went into operation to implement this plan. The Mormon Church was established in Raymond in 1901 with the creation of the Raymond Ward as part of the Alberta Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first church was constructed in 1901 by Jesse Knight with further contributions of money, materials and labor from the community. In July 1912, growth in the membership of the Ward led to its division into two wards divided by Broadway (the main street). The original 1901 church continued to serve the First Ward, but the newly created Second Ward was in need of its own meeting house. A two-storey white schoolhouse built in 1903 was empty and for sale and it was agreed the Second Ward would buy it. Raymond Second Ward carried on in the old school house until 1930 when it was replaced by the present structure. The new building contained classrooms for religious instruction and served as a community centre where festivals, dances and weddings are held. The production of 25 plays using this building was also part of its role as a community centre. The Park Avenue Church was designed by local architect and builder, Francis Bent Rolfson. He came from American Fork, Utah in June 1901 and was present at the official dedication of the townsite in August of the same year. He became well known as an architect in southern Alberta as a result of his involvement with the construction of Central School in Lethbridge, Old Stake House in Cardston, Raymond Town Hall and churches in Taber, Stirling and Hillspring. The original plans for the church, however, were not Rolfson’s. Instead, he had used an adaptation of plans drawn up by Pope and Burten, the architects for two of the Mormon church’s celebrated temples located in Cardston and Hawaii. The Raymond Park Avenue Church and its twin church in Provo, Utah are the only two surviving of their type. The church in Provo has also been altered considerably. Neither of Rolfson’s chapels in Magrath or Stirling is still standing. The style of this building reflects the influences of English domestic architecture during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This is particularly evident in the use of multi-coloured bricks arranged in a variety of patterns, in the tall chimneys and in the use of wall dormers. * * * It is associated with Mormon settlement of southern Alberta in general, and with prominent Mormon architect Francis Bent Rolfson in particular, who designed a number of other structures in southern Alberta. (Notice of Intention, June 1989).

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	1989/09/27

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0483