A collective of community organizations, in collaboration with the City of Laval, plans to transform the domain of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception into a real village. The nuns prepare their departure from the place with emotion.
To the east of the Viau bridge, a few steps from the Cartier metro station, stands a group of century-old gray stone buildings, bordered by a large wooded courtyard. The cross which caps its roof and the white statue of the Holy Virgin face the Rivière des Prairies. Between the walls, 15,000 square meters of rooms, classrooms, community rooms and places of contemplation have welcomed hundreds of young girls destined for an expatriate religious life over the decades.
“I stayed in Hong Kong for 16 years,” says Jeanne Gauvin, a radiant woman with short gray hair. Jeanne and Céline Gauvin, sisters of blood and of God, are respectively director and assistant director of the small museum of the congregation.
The first has her eyes filled with stars as she guides a small group of visitors through two rooms filled with clothes, furniture, letters, paintings and objects that belonged to the beloved founder of her community, Délia Tétreault . She distributes bookmarks with flowers and quotes attributed to her. “Put sunshine in the hearts of those who approach you”, we can read on one of them. “Delia spreads joy,” says the director, who praises the courage, humility and determination of the founder.
Céline says that the missionaries were trained on site, then sent to around 25 countries in Asia, Africa and America. “They were requested by the bishop to meet needs,” underlines the one who lived in Haiti for 17 years. They then managed schools, clinics, pastoral activities and daycares. The nuns also worked to welcome Chinese immigrants to Montreal, for example by directing the Chinese Hospital.
Today, the Quebec sisters are getting older and are fewer in number. They will move to a seniors’ residence in Lachine in 2025. “It pains me a lot. I cried, Jeanne admits. When we invest, we take root. I left a little bit of myself in every place I left. »
“We thought we would end our days here,” said Sister Marie-Josèphe Simard in front of more than a hundred people from community, cultural, economic and political circles on a sunny Tuesday in May. “The great consolation is that the mission will continue through community services. We know that we will take care of the most disadvantaged,” she continued. “We want this home to become a home for you. »
Maintain the social vocation
The Sisters contacted the City of Laval a few years ago in the hope of putting their heritage in good hands. They want to enable the creation of an important work in the Pont-Viau district, they who have left their mark almost everywhere on the planet. The Collective Around a Cup (CAT), made up of social economy businesses and community organizations, was created to develop a unifying project.
Many social economy businesses and organizations have raised their hands to participate, with the aim of renting premises. The main lines of the project are now drawn. On one side, there will be a space intended for culture.
“There is a lack of cultural infrastructure in Laval, especially broadcast rooms,” indicates Charles Gagné-Fournier, territorial development advisor at the Laval Regional Social Economy Center (PRESL), on the sidelines of a day of ideation with many potential partners. “Many Laval artists are forced to work elsewhere, like in Montreal. It’s a need we want to meet. We want it to be recognized as a place where culture is vibrant. »
The large chapel in shades of pink and cream, decorated with a station of the cross painted in oil by the sisters, is expected to become a performance hall. Another wing would be intended for services to citizens, particularly perinatal care, early childhood, immigration, environment and community support.
“We are in a food desert here, so some would like to do a solidarity grocery store, with affordable products. We want to perhaps create a bistro, a restaurant with access to a terrace or an eco-friendly café. There would be a social innovation incubator and spaces for coworking », reports Nathalie Lapointe, real estate development project manager for the CAT.
The project must be completed by the construction of 200 social and affordable rental housing units by the NPO Interloge. “We want to take a devitalized neighborhood and make it attractive, while ensuring long-term affordability,” explains Louise Hodder, general director of PRESL. She believes that such an ambitious project of reconverting a religious building is unheard of in Quebec.
The RUI Pont-Viau citizens’ committee, for its part, wishes to collaborate on the project to improve urban planning in the area. Greening, expansion of parks, development of streets for pedestrians and cyclists, the idea is in particular that the new village and all its services are accessible and well connected to the rest of the neighborhood, explains Sabrina Di Matteo, a citizen involved in the committee .
Funding to attach
Discussions between the City and the congregation to acquire the property are well advanced, according to Cecilia Macedo, the municipal councilor responsible for the social economy file. “It’s a project that has made me dream from the beginning and that we really want to see come true. Laval needs a soul,” she said.
The biggest current challenge is finding funding to bring buildings up to standard for a change of use, particularly with sprinklers and mechanical ventilation. They also want to develop the “entrance to the village” space. “We want to make a wow with the center block,” says Mme The point. The search for financial partners will be its most important task for the next year, since the City has given the CAT one year to finalize the budget.
This project is very close to his heart, because Mme Lapointe wishes to promote exchanges and mutual aid in our increasingly individualistic world. “A lot of people believe in this project, they want to do something for society, and that’s encouraging,” adds the project manager. “Before, I wanted to save the built heritage, but now, I want to save the human, social and collective heritage. »
A believer, Cecilia Macedo is convinced that Délia Tétreault watches over the fervent defenders of the project, so that the values of sharing and hope that she brought are preserved in this enchanting place.