Three Churches (October 2003): Victor and I decided to have a church night. We kicked it off with Howard Park Pentecostal (or Howard Park Methodist, as it was called when it was built in 1915), a lovely old church currently suffering untold indignities in the process of being converted into a condo development called the "Cathedral Lofts". Clambering under the hoarding surrounding the site, we stuck to the shadows as we scoured the exterior looking for an easy entrance. Finding none, we went for the hard entrance. Inside, we were disappointed to see that the building has been all but gutted, and is now mostly just an empty shell full of debris. Although we were able to find a few interesting church leftovers and to make our way up to look around the remnants of the second and third storeys, there was no route up into the tower.
       Bailing out, we headed on to the former St. Jude's church, now being converted into a condo development called the "High Park Lofts". We surveyed the site extensively, but eventually concluded it was a lost cause.
       We next moved along to St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox, which, for some reason, isn't being converted into condos yet, but is undergoing extensive renovations. After carefully getting inside the construction fence, circling the perimeter and finding many locked doors, I finally found a doorknob that turned in my hand. I triumphantly pulled open the door and stepped through — to find a room full of old Serbian men staring at me unkindly. I closed the door and we went home.

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