Montreal heritage building on Plateau soon to go on sale
The Quebec government is planning to sell a heritage building in downtown Montreal valued at $22 million, CBC/Radio-Canada has learned.
The building in question is at 3725 St-Denis Street, between Cherrier and Roy streets, in the Plateau–Mont-Royal borough.
It was built at the end of the 19th century for the Soeurs de la Providence, a nuns' order founded in 1843 by Émilie Gamelin.
Built: c. 1885
Original purpose: Institut des Sourdes-Muettes, under the Soeurs de la Providence.
Area: 20,183.30 m2
City's property evaluation: $22,632,000
The nuns established Montreal's Institut des Sourdes-Muettes there — an institution for the deaf and mute — which they ran until 1975.
The building was then sold to a Quebec government ministry in 1979. It most recently housed the CSSS — the administrative offices of the Quebec health care and social services agency — until its dissolution earlier this year.
Reorganized and merged under Health Minister Gaétan Barrette, the CSSS became the CIUSSS (Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux).
The 300 employees who used to work in the heritage building were scattered across the island of Montreal to work for other government offices.
The building isn't entirely empty, however. The Raymond-Dewar Institute, a rehabilitation centre for deaf people, still occupies part of the building and will have to move in the near future. There's also a subsidized daycare (CPE) attended by 138 children, a number of whom are hard of hearing.
Dinu Bumbaru of Heritage Montreal said he'd be OK with selling the building as long as the public is guaranteed access.
"There are interiors of the building that are very interesting to the public — the chapel, the dome," Bumbaru said.
He said he's more worried that the Quebec government, which owns a number of heritage buildings, is in "liquidation mode."
"Unfortunately, that's not a good way of taking care of our heritage," Bumbaru said.
