'Slave Chapel' project nets Rutledge, preservation group two more heritage awards

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has, over time, also been known as the Fugitive Slave Chapel, has been awarded twice more this year, thanks, in part, to the work of Blyth-based architect John Rutledge.

 

On Feb. 22, The Fugitive Slave Chapel Preservation Project of London, the collective that has worked on behalf of the historic building, which includes Rutledge, won the 2023 Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation. Rutledge himself, for his architectural efforts, then won the 2024 London Heritage Award on April 11 for the African Methodist Episcopal Church at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, which is where the building is now located after being moved last year.
This comes after Rutledge won the Peter Stokes Restoration Award for a small-scale building, one of the Heritage Awards handed out annually by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario last fall.

 

The building now sits at Fanshawe Pioneer Village and it represents many years of work that Rutledge describes as being somewhat of a roller coaster that took the hard work of many dedicated volunteers, committees and boards to get to where it is today.

 

The building dates back to 1848 and 1849 when the Black Congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church built what Rutledge calls a “humble place of worship” on Thames Street in London, Ontario.

 

During the early years of the church, it became part of the Underground Railroad as Black Americans moved north to flee slavery. In the 1920s, the congregation sold the church and it became a residence for decades when, in the early 2000s, the owners at the time expressed a desire to demolish the building.

 

Then, in 2014 and 2015, a group of volunteers who knew of the building’s historical significance arranged to have the building moved to, what was at the time, an empty lot on Grey Street in London. There it would sit as a “parent” moving next to its “child”, as it sat next to Beth Emmanuel Church.

 

At the time, there was then an idea to restore, renovate and expand the building to create a community centre and museum of London’s Black history, though that plan was put on hold and never revisited.

 

In the years that would follow, Rutledge says several “rifts” developed over a number of things, including governance, ownership, purpose and the historic value of the building, which would eventually be tarped and closed to anyone for six years.
Thankfully, Rutledge said, there were some who kept the restoration of the building close to their hearts and, in November of 2022, the building was moved again - this time to Fanshawe Pioneer Village, where it remains today.

 

It was the first time in over 15 years that Fanshawe Pioneer Village had welcomed a new building and, Rutledge says, many of the buildings there represented London’s “White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant” history, while this new addition would tell a different story and reflect the diversity of London, both then and now.

 

With that move, Rutledge says, it became a pure, historic restoration, rather than what was discussed in those earlier plans of a community centre and museum. Fanshawe Pioneer Village representatives, however, went ahead with the installation of insulation and some electric lighting. With Black History Month in February, these changes would allow for the building to play host to special events in what is historically one of the coldest months of the year in Southwestern Ontario.

 

After the building was moved, restoration work began in January of 2023. It included work on the roof, windows, window and door trim and more, in addition to painting the exterior a “rusty terracotta reddish colour”, according to Rutledge.

 

Rutledge, in speaking with The Citizen last fall, said he felt very honoured to be recognized in this way, though the honour also belonged to all of the dedicated volunteers who have worked on the chapel over the years and refused to let its momentum fade as an important historical building. Working as an architect for over 30 years, Rutledge said, being honoured with such a prestigious award is pretty amazing.