The future of St. Peter’s Church in Cookshire-Eaton is still uncertain, according to Anthony De Carvalho, real estate agent. He cited the City’s parking requirements as an important drawback.
«We must get at least a call every second day,» he said in a phone conversation. One offer was received, but «the price was something that we were not willing to accept.»

Also, «the person did not have a project in mind, so it wasn’t like Mr. Denis.»
For his part, Gilles Denis emailed that the City of Cookshire-Eaton had not shown interest in his project to create a library, and he had therefore told the realtors that he would not make a new offer.

«However, I’ve been in contact with the community to identify a project that could be carried out in St. Peter’s, because I believe in its preservation.»
De Carvalho said the Ville de Cookshire-Eaton requires off-street dedicated parking for the building, but St. Peter’s does not possess enough land for this.
Denis said he had no problem with the parking requirement, because he owns the previous Presbytery next door, and could use its land.

The Anglican Church «is heartbroken to have to sell the building,» said Carvalho, but needs the sale proceeds to help repair other churches that need significant work. The asking price of $200,000 «is still a drop in the bucket» for the needs of all the other churches.

Asked whether his agency had bid on St. Peter’s, he said «Absolutely not. On all the church buildings we’ve handled, we’ve never made an offer on any of them. The Anglican Church is one of our biggest clients, we’ve sold quite a few buildings for them. We would never put ourselves in a conflict of interest.»

“We’re open to working with anyone who has a project in mind,» he said. «In an ideal world, it would be something that would serve the community.”