The Musée de la civilization sold the heritage building of the Maison Chevalier to a private company without following up on the interest expressed by a cooperative of traders whose mandate is to preserve heritage in Old Quebec, learned The duty.
The Coopérative du Quartier Petit-Champlain had expressed its interest in 2018 for the acquisition of this building built in 1752, explained its general manager, Sandra Turgeon. She had also met the President and CEO of the Museum, Stephan La Roche, on this subject in November 2019. A visit to the Maison Chevalier was scheduled for March 2020.
The pandemic, however, upset the plans of this for-profit cooperative, which manages 28 buildings in Old Quebec, with assets of around $ 30 million.
By relaunching the Museum in May 2021, Mme Turgeon was informed that an offer from the family operating Ameublement Tanguay had been accepted.
“It sure surprised us,” she said in an interview. The option was there. They knew we had an interest. “
The cooperative would have liked the Museum to take its interests into account before accepting the offer from Gestion 1608, a subsidiary of the Tanguay Group.
“I think it would have been trickier to say to us: ‘I have other offers to buy that are pushing, are you really interested in that, do you want to make an offer”, said Mme Turgeon. I would have found it nicer. “
The directors of the cooperative then discussed the matter twice. A media release on this subject has been considered. But for the sake of good neighborliness with the new owner, this option was ruled out.
“That’s why I did not contact the media to make a scandal”, explained Mme Turgeon.
Several questions remain around this transaction, which sparked controversy after it was made public in a decree of the Council of Ministers authorizing the Museum to transfer the building to the buyer, for an amount that was not disclosed. Several historians have notably denounced this privatization of a heritage asset which was accessible to the public.
A spokesperson for the Museum, Anne-Sophie Desmeules, said the institution did not use a public call for proposals when it went on sale.
“The very strict and restrictive conditions of sale linked to the obligations in terms of conservation and vocation greatly limited the pool of potential buyers,” she said. We proceeded by prospecting steps, which were made with various partners who had the potential to wish to acquire such a historic building. “
“Informal” discussions took place with the cooperative and Mr.me Turgeon, confirmed the Museum. The City of Quebec had also expressed an interest before opting for another building.
The duty revealed this week that the Cultural Business Development Corporation (SODEC), a government agency, had worked in 2016 on a hotel project that would have allowed it to integrate the Maison Chevalier into the real estate park it already manages Place Royale , in Old Quebec.
“There was also no follow-up from them with the Museum thereafter, and a few months later, in 2018, the Ministry of Culture informed us that SODEC did not wish to acquire the house,” said indicated Mme Desmeules.
According to the spokesperson, it was then that “the ministry asked the Museum to take steps to sell the house, which we did”.
A headwind
This week, the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, explained her decision to authorize the transaction by accusing the Liberals of having underfunded the upkeep of the building when they were in power.
It relied on a letter from the former Chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, Margaret Delisle. She wrote in February 2017 that “legal steps aimed at the transfer of ownership from Maison Chevalier to SODEC had to be initiated”.
“With the current strike by state lawyers, the procedures concerning this transfer are being delayed, thus leaving the financial burden linked to taxes and other energy and security expenses at the Musée de la civilization”, deplored Mr.me Delisle.
On Thursday in the House, the government blocked a Liberal motion calling on Minister Roy to block the sale of Maison Chevalier, which has a municipal valuation of $ 2.2 million, so that it remains in the public hands.
A petition claiming the same thing was posted on the website of the National Assembly. It has so far collected 854 signatures.
Former president of the Coopérative du Quartier Petit-Champlain, Yves Magny suggested in 2018 that the Cooperative make an offer to purchase. According to him, the Cooperative was seen as a “natural successor” to the Museum.
Mr. Magny is outraged to see Maison Chevalier sold to Groupe Tanguay. “It is not an artefact, it is 1000 times better than an artefact, and that is what we are about to sell to private companies,” he denounces. It’s almost a sacred cow. Someone who hasn’t grasped that is because he hasn’t grasped the cultural fabric of Quebec. “
He judges that the sales process, the result of which was authorized by Mr.me Roy, is opaque.
“This is not a building that belongs to the Coalition futur Quebec,” he said. It belongs to past and future generations. “