The Cégep de Saint-Laurent is “seriously” considering installing part of its classrooms in the former headquarters of the National Film Board (NFB) for several years, the time it needs to complete major work on its aging buildings, it has learned The Duty.
Last December, the Montreal heritage institution had to urgently close its Pavilion B, which includes classrooms and administrative spaces, due to structural problems. This situation prompted it to offer about twenty evening classes this year, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Thursday, in order to compensate for the lack of space it has during the day to accommodate all its students who are returning to class this week.
However, the Cégep anticipates, based on ongoing inspections, that it will have to carry out masonry work in Building A, which has several classrooms as well as a large room reserved for student activities. Building B, for its part, will have to be completely restored. Result: the establishment will soon be short of space to accommodate all of its students in a quiet environment, explains its director of student services, Danielle Malkassoff.
“Masonry work is definitely not a good learning environment,” she says. “It will be impossible to work in an environment that will allow for peace of mind,” particularly because of the noise, she adds in an interview with Duty Wednesday. “We don’t want to put our students in these conditions.”
In this context, the Cégep de Saint-Laurent is “seriously” evaluating the possibility of installing 10 to 20 classes in the former ONF premises, located some 2 km from the college establishment, confirms M.me Malkassoff. This move could take place as early as the start of the winter session, if not next fall, she said. One thing is certain, no student will have to undergo this move during the current fall session, the institution nevertheless assures.
“Helping out the Cégep”
Since 2019, the former NFB headquarters has been unused due to the relocation of the federal cultural agency’s activities to the Balmoral block in downtown Montreal. In 2022, it was transferred to the Canada Lands Company (CLC), which plans to eventually develop housing there to fulfill the federal government’s intention to give a second life to several of its unused buildings.
Joined by The Dutythe SIC confirms that it is “exploring” with the Cégep de Saint-Laurent the possibility that it could use “temporarily” — for three to seven years — the former ONF premises.
“This is to help out the Cégep,” Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern, vice-president of corporate communications for the SIC, said in an email. He added that there are still “details to be worked out” before this project can come to fruition. The Cégep must obtain certain approvals from the borough of Saint-Laurent and “eventually” sign a lease with the SIC, he added.
The institution has not estimated the duration over which the upcoming work in some of its pavilions will be spread, nor the associated bill. For its part, Quebec estimates in its budget documents that the maintenance deficit for the buildings at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent is $20.5 million, with more than half of the buildings considered to be in poor condition.