The failure to sell the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church to the Coptic Orthodox community has reshuffled the cards for its future. The City of Quebec is once again offering to buy it, and the Trudeau government is still ready to finance part of the work. “We have always worked with a view to a possible transaction,” said the councillor responsible for the file on the city’s executive committee, Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc.
It has been almost 10 years since the church closed its doors and a new purpose has been sought. The first idea was to turn it into a multi-purpose room, then into a genealogy center. The city then took up the project with a cultural and community project.
The offer from the City of Quebec was long overdue when the capital’s Coptic community proposed buying the church in late 2023. However, the parish revealed last week that the latter had withdrawn. Last June, even before this announcement, the City had made it known that it still wanted to buy the place in order to preserve its community vocation.
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church is one of the jewels of Quebec’s religious heritage. Listed since 1991 in the Quebec Cultural Heritage Register, it is considered to be of “exceptional” value for both its exterior and interior appearance. It also houses a Casavant organ, which also enjoys heritage protection.
Duclos says he is still in the game
The sale of the church itself should be done for a symbolic amount of $1, because expensive renovation work is necessary. It would cost $34 million over 15 years, according to a technical audit carried out in 2023 by the firms Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and BGLA. An envelope that Mme Coulombe-Leduc hopes to see it partly funded by the Government of Canada — with the help of MP and federal minister Jean-Yves Duclos, who has been interested in the project for years.
According to the elected official’s press attaché, the latter is still involved. “We will definitely be there to support the City,” explained Guillaume Bertrand. “This is a file that Mr. Duclos has been following since the 2015 election, and it’s good that the City is taking the ball on the rebound.”
According to him, the project could be financed by the Government of Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program, from which the Pignon Bleu and the Patro Laval in the capital region have benefited.
Community vocation
The surrounding area and its 10,000 residents are in dire need of meeting places, Mr.me Coulombe-Leduc. The neighbourhood council must also hold its meetings in the neighbouring neighbourhood of Montcalm. “There were organisations like Saint-Vincent-de-Paul which did food distribution, AA meetings…”
The Le Carrefour project, which the City of Quebec was working on before the Coptic community presented its purchase offer, also included the development of co-working spaces on the upper floors, as well as studios and artists’ rooms in the basement.
According to the plan presented in the study by the firms Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and BGLA, the nave was to be reserved for holding events and meetings, as was the large room in the basement. There was also talk of setting up a café and a boutique on the street side.