Heritage experts are devastated following the fire in the monastery of the Good Shepherd, a “spectacular place” as much for its unique architecture as per his new calling.
“We are in shock. It is a very important building from a heritage, cultural and social point of view,” sighs Dinu Bumbaru, Policy Director at Héritage Montréal.
The heritage organization had established its offices in the basement of the chapel for twenty years, a choice far from trivial.
“It is a symbolic place, a building which was the subject of a rescue operation which could be described as avant-garde in the 1980s and which could serve as a model for other buildings”, underlines the trained architect.
A “spectacular” place
“It’s an absolutely spectacular place,” says Luc Noppen, founder of the Canada Research Chair in Urban Heritage and specialist in religious heritage.
“This is the first large convent in Montreal, the first of a series that I call Montreal-type. You don’t see any in Quebec. You also have the Gray Nuns and the Hôtel-Dieu of Montreal which follow the same formula, in the shape of a comb, with a backbone and wings in front and behind, forming an H”, explains the professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
He confirms that the building built around 1846 is a “model of conversion”, housing both offices, housing for seniors, a housing cooperative and a cultural center which includes a music room with “exceptional acoustics” in the chapel.
“It’s a first, usually a promoter buys a convent and makes luxury condos,” underlines the man who has been interested in heritage for fifty years.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, MAXIME DELAND
More than twelve hours after the start of the fire, firefighters were still trying to control the blaze at the Chapelle du Bon-Pasteur on Sherbrooke Street East in Montreal.
A restoration that will take time
Classified as historic, the monastery will have to be rebuilt and restored.
“In Paris, we were able to reconstruct Notre-Dame-de-Paris identically. We hope to be able to do it also in Montreal, ”said the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante at a press briefing on Friday.
“It will take at least five or six years and it will be expensive,” however warns Mr. Noppen, who believes that the original architecture will not be able to completely remain intact.
“There were spaces that showed that it had been a convent. That’s what we’re going to lose, it’s going to necessarily bear a little more the signature of our time, ”he said.
With QMI Agency