The imposing archives of twenty religious communities threatened with escheat will be brought together in Longueuil, learned The duty. They will be protected in a new building adjoining the former red brick mansion of Mayor Louis-Édouard Morin, rue de Normandie, within three years if all goes well. These precious documents from congregations in the greater Montreal area contain important parts of the history of Quebec and North America.
The Archives and Religious Heritage of Greater Montreal (FAR) Foundation acquired, for the sum of one million dollars, this vast neo-Gothic house built in 1874. The residence of eighteen rooms, enlarged over time, will have to be equipped. modern infrastructure dedicated to the preservation of archives, according to prescribed standards. The various levels of government were not approached. According to information obtained by The duty, it is the religious communities who would fully bear the costs of this archival rescue.
According to the deed of sale, the non-profit organization proposes to “transform and modify the building into a center for archives and conservation of religious heritage by means of the construction of a building and its outbuildings. for these purposes ”. The project, planned near the Vieux-Longueuil co-cathedral, is conditional on a zoning change. The new city council has yet to address this issue. Nothing is currently planned on this subject for its meeting on December 14. If dezoning is not obtained, the sale for a million dollars will be canceled. The City of Longueuil attributes a value of more than 1.8 million to this property.
Sister Denise Riel, the provincial animator of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM), says she is happy to see the memory of her community preserved thanks to such a project. “We are aging and we are decreasing in number”, she summarized in an interview with the To have to. “Managing these documents is becoming difficult for us. They will get rid of the building behind. It comes quickly, this project. We are waiting for the City’s permissions. The recent municipal elections, “it delayed things,” she said.
The project responds to an emergency, says Sister Riel. “There were small communities that had no space, no means, no place. And others who were wondering where it would all go, because they are selling their buildings. “
Official announcements are still scheduled for February or next March. Simon Bissonnette, the director of the FAR, did not wish to answer the questions of the To have to for the moment.
A mayor’s house in business
The first owner of this house, Mayor Louis-Édouard Morin, is known to have been one of the main promoters of chambers of commerce in Quebec, as well as a businessman active in fishing activities in Gaspé.
Its imposing residence, a reflection of its economic power, is planted in the middle of an imposing land of more than 9,000 square meters. Before the construction of the highway 132, the house was located a short distance from the flats of the river. From 1914 until 1995, the premises belonged to the Brothers of the Presentation of Ireland, before being ceded to the Congregation of Notre-Dame. Since then, the house has served as a house of prayer and retreat.
The archives of the Congregation of Notre-Dame will not be immediately integrated into this new center, indicates to the To have to the archivist of this community, Marie-Josée Morin, but a reflection, which must be conducted from January, does not rule out this possibility.
Céline Widmer, who worked for the Jesuit archives and the McCord Museum, will be the director of this new archives center. It will have to ensure that the budgets and deadlines established for the preparation of the center are respected. In other words, Mme Widmer will have to collaborate with an engineering firm to establish the technical data of the project.
The FAR intends to enlist the services of a credible spokesperson in the world of history in order to promote the dissemination of its mission in Longueuil. Various personalities linked to history and communications were approached.
The choice of Longueuil appears surprising for the president of the Regroupement des archivistes religions. “We were hoping for an answer for the communities of Montreal. We also wanted it to be easy to access. The choice of Longueuil, even symbolically, is special. The organization chaired by David Bureau was involved in the initial development of this project through funding for a study.
Why not have used the Saint-Sulpice library in Montreal to house the religious archives? Wasn’t this old archive center, which has been looking for a vocation for years, just the thing? When mentioning this idea, in 2020, Hélène Laverdure, curator and director general of BAnQ archives, bluntly affirmed To have to that “that would be beautiful, incredible”.
There was also talk of housing this archival collection in the old building of the Hôtel-Dieu in Montreal. “It would have required too many repairs, too much investment,” says Sister Denise Riel.
The possibility of using the Gray Nuns building in Old Montreal was also examined. But a study turned out to be inconclusive, with lower costs arguing in favor of Longueuil.