Dispatched to the first lines of defense of a heritage lacking in resources and love, are the Docomomo Quebec and other Action patrimoine doomed? to play the Cassandres ? The wild demolition of the Domaine-de-l’Estérel, whose main building, protected to the highest degree by the Quebec State, was illegally carried away with the authorized shelling of its outbuildings, will have realized their worst fears. This announced mess must not go unpunished. It must be made an exemplary case and a first test of reality for the law on heritage strengthened last year.
Illegal demolitions of listed properties are rare. The erasure of this jewel of modern architecture, built by Baron Édouard Empain in the 1930s, was the first to occur under the CAQ reign. The Minister of Culture had to manage the demolition of the Maison Boileau, but with her hands tied, as it was not under her authority. Quite the opposite of the Estérel, whose status was handcuffed by law. The rubble was still hot that Nathalie Roy therefore went up to the front: “We will apply the law”, she tweeted in a dry tone, out of step with her usual good nature.
But the real test is yet to come. The images that have circulated may suggest a deliberate gesture, it will be necessary to prove that there has been a breach of the law for a file to be entrusted to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions. If the guilt of the owner of the lot, the firm Olymbec, whose acquisitions on the outskirts of the estate are making the headlines this morning, should be established beyond any doubt, it will imperatively be necessary that the sentence be substantial. The law now provides for fines ranging from $6,000 to $1,140,000. The margin is more than enough to avoid that we end up once again with paltry fines in the guise of demolition blessings in disguise.
Above all, let’s hope that this legal ballet will make it possible to show the extent of the power of action of the revamped law, including in terms of reconstruction and surveillance. Devastated by the loss of the Art Deco jewel, the mayor of Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson wants to see it reborn identically. Other voices are raised to demand a Heritage Protector. We are. More than thirty years of citizen activism will, alas, have failed to ensure the safeguarding of the Domaine-de-l’Estérel, let us at least hope that its ruins herald an era where laxity and laissez-faire will be sufficiently punished to remove all want to pretend to be above the law.
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