Saint-Patrick High School, a historic English-language institution in Quebec City’s Upper Town, will move to the city’s west end in 2027. A recently formed citizens’ collective is proposing the installation of a housing cooperative following the educational institution’s move.
“We believe that it is essential to put forward a civic and cooperative vision in the rehabilitation of the Saint-Patrick school building and grounds, so that the development project following the departure of the educational institution is in line with the needs of the residents of the neighborhood,” declared the citizen collective Avenir Saint-Patrick on its Facebook page on July 23.
For over a century, the area of Salaberry Avenue and Maisonneuve Street in Upper Town Quebec, represents the nerve center of the Irish community of the Old Capital. At the intersection of these two axes, between Cartier Avenue and the Grand Théâtre de Québec, stands the building of the Saint-Patrick secondary school, whose walls welcome students for over a century.
This long story is about to come to an end, however. The Central Québec School Board — which oversees some fifteen establishments — plans to merge its two English-language high schools in the capital, Saint Patrick School and Quebec High School, to move them into a new, larger, more modern building on Wolfe Avenue in Sainte-Foy. The school board cited the dilapidated condition of the buildings currently housing the two schools to support its decision.
“An ideal place”
The departure of the school opens up several possibilities for the future of the land that currently houses the school, which is more of 6400 m2. “The idea for the housing cooperative project came from a post in a Facebook group,” explains Ève Méquignon, a member of the Avenir Saint-Patrick group. “A citizen wrote in the group that she had seen that the Saint-Patrick school was going to move and that the site should not fall into the hands of a private developer.”
Although its details and specificities are yet to be defined, the cooperative project would include a community component in addition to rental housing. The citizens’ collective wants to expand the premises of the CPE Les Loupiots, which is located on the edge of the building currently housing the Saint-Patrick school, and preserve the infrastructure already present in the school (the gymnasium and the music rooms).
The group members also want to set up premises that they would like to make available to other community organizations in the neighborhood. “This is a major attraction of the project, to consolidate solidarity with other organizations. Several community groups in the neighborhood have expressed interest in helping us with the project, so it could be beneficial in return to give them a space,” adds Éric Bégin, also a member of the citizens’ collective.
This project for a new housing cooperative was well received in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district, which has already had a large number of cooperative housing units since the 1970s. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste district council gave its support to the project, as did the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Popular Committee.
A long and winding route
The road to building a new housing cooperative is long and winding. The projectFuture Saint Patrick is still at a preliminary stage today. “Right now, we have launched our mobilization campaign to challenge political decision-makers and obtain support,” explains Thomas Pichette, a member of the collective. The specifics of the project, namely the number of housing units, the development of the site and its total costs, are not yet known.
“We have to wait until the school is purchased before we can submit our call for projects to the Quebec Affordable Housing Program [PHAQ]so it could take a year or two after 2027,” emphasizes Ève Méquignon. Although resorting to the PHAQ is a real “obstacle course,” as reported by The duty At the end of July, members of the citizens’ collective were nevertheless pleased to have obtained the support of the local federal MP, Jean-Yves Duclos, who promised financial support from the federal government. Ottawa’s last budget planned to allocate $1.5 billion to support new housing cooperative projects.
The City of Quebec did not wish to comment on the project at this stage, although its spokesperson, Jean-Pascal Lavoie, assured that “the City would study in due course the different options for the future of this land.”
However, his Vision of the dwellingupdated in 2023, “provides in particular for a modification of the zoning grids in central districts” to facilitate residential densification and the use of the right of first refusal to make land available for social housing projects. The City had notably used the right of first refusal in spring 2022 to allow the installation of a housing cooperative on the site of the former Kirouac bar, closed since spring 2021.
Currently, the land of the Saint-Patrick school is leased by the Central Quebec School Board to the congregation of the Redemptorist Brothers of English Canada, according to information provided to the Duty.
“ Contacts with them are very difficult, but we know that they want to sell their land. »explains Ève Méquignon. Although the Quebec City Council has not officially pronounced on the project, Ève Méquignon assures that the municipal elected officials that Avenir Saint-Patrick met with were open to using the right of pre-emption to allow the development of their project.