The Papineau manor tea pavilion, located in Montebello, has just been demolished by the federal government, even though it was part of a national historic site that was in principle protected.
“It’s really shocking!” said Michel Prévost, president of the Société d’histoire de l’Outaouais, in an interview. The building was protected however. For heritage advocates, this is worrying. If the federal government can no longer even protect and restore what is classified, imagine the message that sends to entrepreneurs! We were told that it would have cost too much to restore it. Imagine the message it sends if we let everything go like that so easily!
The Teahouse was a recognized heritage building. Its “deconstruction”, in the words used by Parks Canada, was done in a hurry, notes the organization Action Patrimoine. “The main partners were notified only a week before the demolition work began.” A public consultation and other possible choices have not been studied, indicates Action Patrimoine. Everyone was thus faced with a fait accompli. “We were warned at the last minute, to avoid a mobilization”, notes for its part the Outaouais Historical Society.
The building was quickly dismantled even though the Federal State, in its documents, confirms its high heritage value: “The Teahouse is a recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical significance, the interest it present on the architectural level and the privileged place it occupies in its environment.
The duty was alerted by witnesses to the dealings that led to this rapid demolition carried out by the federal agency. The federal agency is criticized for its lightness in this file. However, as Action Patrimoine reminds us, Parks Canada must “be exemplary in terms of heritage preservation”.
This building was part of an important historical complex closely linked to the history of the family of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the famous tribune of the popular uprisings of 1837-1838. The place is also known to have housed his descendants, including Henri Bourassa, the founder of the newspaper The duty.
Built in 1910, the year the daily was founded The duty, this pavilion is the result of the transformation of a greenhouse fitted out on site by Amédée Papineau, son of Louis-Joseph, a few decades earlier. This pavilion itself rested on previous foundations, that of a dovecote built by Amédée’s father, Louis-Joseph, in 1860. “The building was therefore an integral part of the history of the seigneurial domain”, notes Action patrimoine .
In a letter addressed to Minister Steven Guilbeault, responsible for Parks Canada, the director general of Action patrimoine, Renée Genest, invites the federal government to adopt mechanisms to include, in a review of the law, “measures that will make it possible to avoid such demolitions”.