Congrégation des Soeurs de Ste-Anne to be turned into subsidized housing
The mother house of the Congrégation des Soeurs de Ste-Anne in Lachine will be transformed into a subsidized-housing facility.
The greystone building on Provost St. sits on a 63,000-square metre sprawl of land that has captured the eye of developers over the years. However, after much consideration, the 180 remaining sisters decided building a conventional residential development did not correspond with their vision for the property.
Soeur Celine Dupuis, president of the Congrégation’s board of directors, said the sisters first began discussing the future of the property back in 2004. Planning began in earnest in 2014.
“It wasn’t about making the most money possible,” Dupuis said. “Our goal was to get some money, yes, but to have something built that would serve the community.”
The project went to Bâtir son quartier, a group which focuses on building units that meet the socio-economic needs of a neighbourhood. The convent is located in an area with an aging population, many of whom are financially vulnerable.
“This is especially good news for the elderly, especially women,” Lachine Mayor Maja Vodanovic said.
Dupuis said 20 per cent of the property will be given to the borough and turned into a public park. The borough will be responsible for the maintenance of the green space.
“We have been working with the sisters for a year,” Vodanovic said. “The process is complex, so it won’t happen overnight.”
Plans for the site have to be approved at both the municipal and provincial levels of government, zoning has to be changed from institutional to residential, the building and grounds need to be inspected for any possible contaminants and there will be a public consultation headed by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM).
“It is the sisters who are overseeing the project,” Vodanovic said. “Their average age is 85, but that doesn’t slow them down.”
The proposed transformation will happen in stages.
The first stage will see a residence built on the property for the sisters. They will live out their lives there, after which the building will be turned over to the community.
The second stage will see the main structure turned into one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with the larger units targeting families.
The final stage will see the two existing wings plus a third wing to be constructed, turned into 250 one and two bedroom units for seniors 75 years old and older, people with reduced mobility and people experiencing a loss of autonomy.
The chapel on the fourth floor will be maintained as long as the sisters need it and then will be turned into a public space.
And the sisters asked for a guarantee that the landscaping and trees, including a 100-year-old orchard, be preserved.
The Congrégation des Soeurs de Sainte-Anne first came to Lachine in 1861. They acquired farmland in the current location in 1900.