The new owners of Sarnia's Central United Church aren't planning any major changes to the historic building's exterior.
London-based Xoana Corporation told BlackburnNews.com, they purchased the church, at the corner of Brock Street and George Street, because they like to take on unique projects.
Project lead Anthony Mota said very preliminary plans call for a mix of residential and commercial use, and they hope to clean up the bricks, soffits, eavestroughs and replace the roof eventually.
He said they're planning to keep the main sanctuary as is for now, and refurbish it at some point.
"There's a lot of beautiful woodwork and a lot of history in that section," said Mota. "We would like to keep the organ where it is. We love the idea that they were starting to bring in talent from other places to play the organ and have certain displays, so we would like to keep that part of it as original as we can."
He said engineers are currently calculating how many units there could be.
"The rest of the building, we would like to divide up into apartments. Some we hope will be geared to an elderly clientele, where they can come in and out of the building without too many stairs and restrictions and things like that. The original building had a chairlift, which we have contacted the elevator company and we will be allowed to continue using that."
Mota thinks there's space for a minimum of ten residential units and said they won't be completely marketed to seniors.
"There will be other apartments that are for younger folks, but we would like to focus on the other chapter if we can. There are many rooms there that could be used for things like a physiotherapy clinic. That would depend, of course, on the commercial aspect of Sarnia, if there are smaller companies that would want smaller spaces."
Mota said Xoana Corp. only envisions one exterior change in the future.
"Between the front entrance and the entranceway into the chapel at the side, we are thinking about an atrium type of addition, where people can have a morning coffee or just sit there and enjoy the sunshine."
Mota said plans could change if city hall approval isn't granted.