“It’s unfortunate, but Quebec is increasingly giving itself an unenviable reputation as a champion in demolition,” observes the Group for Initiatives and Research Applied to the Environment (GIRAM) in considering the case of demolition, programmed by the Ministry of Education, Saint-Damien-de-Buckland College. This multifunctional concrete building, designed by renowned architect Jean-Marie Roy, is due to disappear in the wake of a construction project for a new primary school which involves the relocation of all of its other occupants.
A brand new primary school, “in accordance with the principle of sustainable development”, says the Ministry of Education, must be built, at a cost of 20 million dollars, in this municipality located 70 kilometers from Quebec, reported the Duty a few days ago. Minister Jean-François Roberge and the Director General of the Center de services scolaire de la Côte-du-Sud, Jean-Marc Jean, stressed in December that it is more economical to build a new elementary school in Rayons-de-Soleil. to renovate this large building which houses several other services. In 2018, the bill to renovate the entire building was estimated at 24 million.
Action patrimoine has just expressed its opposition to this demolition and these calculations, stressing to the municipality that “the architecture of this building as well as that of the pavilions attached to it are unique in the territory of Bellechasse”. Action patrimoine is a national organization which, since 1975, has been working to protect and enhance built heritage and cultural landscapes. “Buildings like the college are versatile and can be adapted to the current needs of the community,” we judge. The organization invites the local mayor, Sébastien Bourget, to use the provisions of the Cultural Heritage Act to protect the building by citing it.
Reclaim Buildings
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy, on 1er February, Québec solidaire MNA Catherine Dorion urges her to intervene. “The demolition project of the multi-purpose college in Saint-Damien-de-Buckland is quite simply nonsense which goes against good practices in terms of built heritage and conservation,” she says. Mme Dorion recalls that “a demolition leads to an enormous production of waste”. Not to mention that “new constructions also require a lot of resources”. According to the politician, “the era of celebration of the new at all costs and planned obsolescence” belongs to the past. “We all need continuity much more than this construction fever fast food“, indicates the member for Taschereau, who considers that this project is an insult to the sensitivity of Quebecers for their heritage.
For GIRAM, the issue of recovery in Quebec should not only concern paper and plastic. More than two million tons of buildings are thrown away every year in our country without anyone making a case for it, regrets the Group. “The most ecological and greenest building is the one that already exists. In the name of “sustainable development claimed by the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, GIRAM asks that we look more closely at all the impacts of the demolition option”, without going unmentioned, in the equation, “the costs of replacing spaces to relocate the other functions currently housed [par ce bâtiment] : residence for seniors, municipal offices, cultural centre, performance hall, municipal library and community organizations”.