More than 130 years after its doors first opened, the St. Mary’s Church at Fulford is “pleasantly warm now,” thanks to a modern heat pump installed by Salt Spring’s Whirlwind Heating and Refrigeration.
According to churchwarden Simon Wheeler, the switch from an increasingly costly heating oil system to an efficient heat pump was recently completed.
The church, which hopes soon to once more house programs by the non-denominational Star of the Sea Centre for Spiritual Living and Practice, was consecrated in 1894 and the adjacent cemetery holds the graves of several members of well-known Salt Spring families.
The building faces additional challenges before opening, Wheeler said, such as a flood in the washroom that came in through a roof leak and an unreliable water supply. A fundraising campaign is being considered to address those issues, he said.
