As fire continues to burn at historic Montreal monastery, worries mount about what is lost

As large plumes of smoke continued to rise from the Monastre du Bon-Pasteur in downtown Montreal Friday, the future of the nearly two-century-old buildingand all it heldare shrouded in doubt.

Provincial and municipal officials met Friday morning at the site to assess damage to the historic monastery near the corner of Sherbrooke and de Bullion streets. No one has been seriously hurt in the fire that broke outat around 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

"You can see, behind us, it's still burning," Montreal Mayor Valrie Plantesaid just before noon, at a news conference also attended byQuebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe, the MNA for Sainte-MarieSaint-Jacques and Qubec Solidaireco-spokesperson Manon Mass,andMontreal firedepartment ChiefRichard Liebmann.

"It's an incredible sadness. It's a magnificent space," Plante said.

Now a multi-service centre, the sprawling buildingincludeda seniors' residence,a housing co-operative, a daycare centre and condominiums, as well as cultural space. In less than 10 days, the monastery's 120-seat chapel was to bethe venue for theConcours Prix d'Europe, aweek-long singing competition.

Diane Brubhas lived in an apartment on one of the upper floors for the past three years. On Thursday, sherushed outside with only her phone and wallet when she saw firefightersarriveoutside the building. She is one of at least 39 people who are now without a home.

She loved being part of a residential community inside a building steeped in history.

"I was so comfortable there. I adored my apartment. I'm grieving a lot right now," Brub said. "Thankfully, the fire happened during the day because there are people inside who can't move around easily."

ForTakaBaillargeon, too, the heritage site is more than a symbol of the city's past.

It's been a successstory, she says:a shining example of how to breathe new life into a historicinstitution and turnit into a vibrant gathering space for Montrealers.

"It was one of the first buildings that was revamped, restored, re-used with a vision of having private and public [usage],"said Baillargeon, the assistantpolicy director forHeritage Montreal, an organization that works to promote and preserve the city's cultural architectural heritage.

"It still stands as an example of what we should do in terms of re-using our historic buildings."

It's not yet clear how badly damaged the monastery is, but the fire department officials said they don'tbelieve it will be a total loss.

Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement, warning of increased pollution in Montreal because of the smoke.

WATCH | Raw footage of burning monastery:

Montreal firefighters try to get blaze under control

1 year ago

Duration 0:23

A resident who lives near the monastery captured footage of the firefighters' efforts to get the blaze under control on Thursday.

The monastery was built in 1846. The greystone building has a central body that is crossed by three perpendicular wings. Apresbytery was added in 1896.It was designated a heritage building in 1979 andacquired in1984 by theSocit immobilire du patrimoine architectural de Montral(SIMPA).

Heritage Montreal is housed in the monastery, andBaillargeon says the group's archives may have been lost.

Baillargeon described the fire as a "huge, huge disaster."

"These techniques, these materials, we cannot find them again. We cannot rebuild a Bon-Pasteur as is. That's the most terrible part of it," she said.

"These buildings confine in themselves so much knowledge, so many things, so much history, and we will not be able to have those back."

Lacombe, the province's culture minister, said he wants the building to be restored eventually.

WATCH |CBC's Rowan Kennedy describes the fire's toll:

What it looks like at the scene of the Bon-Pasteur monastery fire

1 year ago

Duration 1:08

CBC's Rowan Kennedy explains what's left in the aftermath of Thursday's destructive blaze.

Man found inside building well after fire started

Although no one was seriously injured, a man was found inside the building at around 9 p.m. Thursday, several hours after the fire broke out and after authorities had announced that the building was empty.

The man was in a part of the building that was not on fire and was suffering from hypothermia.Liebmann, the fire chief, said an investigation is underway to determine how the person ended up there.

"There is a lot of contradictory information," Liebmann said."What I can tell you for sure is that primary and secondary searches were done in the entire building."

Nearly a full day after first arriving at the scene, firefighters arestill trying to find ways to get to the monastery's roof,where the fire started.

Liebmann said the structure of the building, which hasa sloped, metal-clad roof, makes getting closer to the heart of the fire adifficult task.

Liebmannsaidfire alarms were working properly when it started.He also said there's no risk of the fire spreading, but it's unclear how long it will take to extinguish it.

"We're doing what we can, but our first priority is to make sure nobody gets hurt trying to put this out," he said.

"Everybody's out.Everybody's safe. And we're doing what we can to preserve as much of the building as possible."