Former monastery burns
A major fire at a Montreal heritage building that began Thursday afternoon and continued into late Friday was described as difficult to control.
The fire at the Monastère du Bon-Pasteur, a 19th-century former monastery, quickly became a five-alarm blaze requiring the intervention of 150 firefighters.
Fire Chief Richard Liebmann told reporters on Friday the fire seemed to have started in the attic and bringing it under control hasn’t been easy.
“It’s a fire that’s extremely difficult to extinguish,” Liebmann said. “Because of the nature of the construction, the shape of the building and the construction materials, it’s very difficult to reach the source of the fire, (both) from above and from inside.”
Liebmann could not predict the extent of the damage.
The downtown Montreal building was built in 1846 for the Soeurs de Notre-Dame du Bon Pasteur d’Angers who set up in Montreal. It retained its religious vocation until the 1960s. The province formally recognized it as a heritage site in 1979.
It now serves as a multiservice centre that includes a residence for seniors, a housing co-operative, a daycare centre and condominiums. The building also houses the offices of Heritage Montreal, a non-profit that promotes and protects the city’s heritage.
The chapel, located in the centre of the complex, is now a concert hall and part of the city’s cultural centre network. The city considers the former monastery one of its most prestigious halls, known for exceptional acoustics in a historic and intimate atmosphere.
The venue houses a pair of unique instruments: a Fazioli concert grand piano and a 1772 Kirckman harpsichord. It wasn’t clear whether those items had been saved.
Liebmann said 39 people were evacuated and 27 of them are being taken care of by the Red Cross.
Two people were treated for minor injuries, a firefighter who was fighting the blaze and a man in his 80s found overnight in a part of the complex not on fire.
Liebmann could not explain why the octogenarian wasn’t discovered when the building was searched earlier in the evening. Preliminary and secondary searches were done and a building manager had said everyone was accounted for.
Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe said once the fire is brought under control, the conversation will turn to how to rebuild.