Marie Renoux, referent of the Entremise organization, opens the two doors of a built-in wardrobe in a corridor of the Cité-des-Hospitalières and measures its effect by revealing well-aligned lockers. “We are in the former refectory of the sisters, and it is here that the nuns deposited their utensils, she explains, pointing out the mini copper plates in the name of the last occupants. This is the kind of development that would disappear if everything was brought up to standard all of a sudden. It is a beautiful testimony to the history of the place. »
This place is the large conventual complex of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint-Joseph, which adjoins the former Hôtel-Dieu, near Mount Royal, in Montreal. The hospital is owned by the Ministry of Health, and the neighboring convent was purchased by the City in 2017. It is now used for the Entremise project of transitional occupation by arts or community organizations.
The spaces available extend over more than 65,000 square feet. They include about forty rooms, a chapel, several meeting rooms, a former refectory, a greenhouse, manufacturing workshops, etc. “It’s almost a city within the city,” says Philémon Gravel, director of Entremise, who also met on site for a guided tour.
The convent was an independent living environment for hundreds of hospital sisters. They even produced their food and medicinal plants in the site’s large garden. “They cared for Montrealers for over 200 years and they were really self-sufficient: I had access to a purchase report from 1900, and apart from a few bits of string, they produced everything they needed,” says the director.
A floor occupied by the administration of the congregation has just been freed up and the space available has been further increased. When the last nuns have left, the complex to be occupied will total approximately 150,000 square feet.
It takes time to requalify a site of this size. The new owner has therefore opted for a transitional occupation while waiting for a construction site that will come in 5, 10 or 15 years, who knows?
The “temporary” project has existed since June 2020. The first phase, launched in the fall of 2020, allowed for one-off installations from a few hours to a month. An ongoing pilot phase allows the premises to be occupied through one-year leases. The first tenants of the complex, chosen after a call for applications, come mainly from community and cultural circles. The Théâtre À corps perdus presented Nostalgia 275 in the Chapel of the Hospitallers in September.
Millions of square feet
Entremise has existed for six years and develops occupation projects for the benefit of the community of vacant or underused buildings, awaiting renovation or even demolition. The first concrete test of the box, the Young Project, on the street of the same name in Griffintown, allowed the occupation of premises by 35 organizations for two years (2017-2019).
The building had been empty for six years and was waiting to be demolished to make way for social housing. Studies had shown that bringing the building up to building standards would cost around $1.6 million, while Entremise’s architectural interventions required less than $100,000. Rents were calculated based on the square footage per person: a 10-person office that used 1,000 square feet was worth $1,000 per month.
The disused bus station located near the Grande Bibliothèque is now in the crosshairs. The very damaged building, also owned by the City, has been empty for more than a decade. For now, recyclers drop off their loads of recyclable containers recovered from blue bags and garbage cans.
The watchword of the medium is to “connect people without spaces to spaces without people”. And there is plenty to do with the real estate crisis, which also affects community organizations as well as the hundreds of commercial or public buildings awaiting requalification in Montreal alone. Many other religious buildings in Quebec will have to be converted in the coming years. In Baie-Saint-Paul, Maison Mère is transforming the former Petites Franciscaines convent. Across Canada, vacancies number in the thousands and millions of square feet in total.
There is a National Network of Transient Places (RNLT). The group wrote to the Ministry of Infrastructure to request an inventory of places likely to be occupied and an associated policy. The RNLT is still waiting for a response. The duty asked the same questions, and the request was transferred to the Ministry of Heritage, without further action.
Not all levels of government are blocking this transition to transition, as shown by the City of Montreal. The Plante administration supports the organization and, more broadly, the principle of temporary occupation of certain buildings and sites. The borough of Ville-Marie now provides for event-based and temporary occupation of certain places in its urban planning regulations. Paris has a temporary occupation charter. Brussels regularly launches calls for tenders for the occupation of vacant premises.
However, temporary occupation often comes up against administrative and regulatory blockages. Building codes and safety standards, designed to protect the public, pose particular challenges. For example, an expert may measure steps that have been in use for a century and find that they are one inch short of width. Should we close access to them while waiting for their renovation?
“Some professionals interpret the codes as biblical laws,” says director Gravel, who himself holds a master’s degree in architecture. However, there is play and other professionals can formulate other opinions. »
The organization sets an example by occupying the premises of the first house of MusiquePlus, abandoned for years. The three-year mandate granted by the City to develop the transitional occupation of the convent complex provides for a budget of $365,000. The only costs related to the employment of security guards during the same period could be higher.
“Even in strict financial terms, it is better to occupy the building than to watch it empty,” concludes Marie-Josée Vaillancourt, deputy general manager of Entremise.