Brutalist-style Moncton church rezoned to make way for new apartment building

The formerSaint-Louis-de-France church in Monctonwill be demolished to make way for a new "high end"80-unit apartment building.

The church, located at 5 Pleasant St., closed its doors last year amid declining attendance, whilethe Catholic diocese was also facingfinancial difficulties.

"Right now our financial situation is very precarious and difficult because of the whole question of sexual abuse issues by a few members in the 1960s until 1985," said ArchbishopValry Vienneauat Monday night's city council meeting. He wasreferring to lawsuits and settlements in decades-old sexual abuse cases.

But John Leroux, manager of collections andexhibitions at the BeaverbrookArt Gallery and a Frederictonarchitect, appealed to city councillors during the public hearing to reconsider the importance of the brutalist-style architecture.

Brutalismis astyle characterized by simple forms and exposed concrete.

Brutalistarchitechture

"This is a city of resurgo, it's a city of giving things a second chance, its part of your legacy," Leroux said.

Leroux said the late architect,Gerry Gaudet was one of the first waves of Acadian architects to, "work in this city anddesignchurches from within, from New Brunswickas opposed to going away to Quebec."

"It is probably the finest brutalist buildingin New Brunswick."

According to Leroux, the formerSaint-Louis-de-France church was built in 1972, with the bell tower added three years later byArcade Albert, another local architect.

Save the bell tower

In March, Moncton's planning advisory committeerecommended council not proceed with the amendment to allow for rezoning, in part because of the building's unique architectural style, and to "preserve and strengthen significant sightlines."

Albert Boudreau of Moncton-basedATMJProperties Inc., said he made changes to the designof the apartment building to change the roof. He also said he decided to incorporate the bell tower into his development, "in honour of the architects involved in the original design both the bell tower and the church."

Boudreau said he would havesaved parts of the church too, if it was possible.

"There's not a lot you can do with it, it's a solid pieceof concrete with no windows and does not work with today's energy efficiency."

Leroux said the concessions made by the developer were "reasonable."

"The bell towerin some ways, is actually one of the most important parts of the building. So that's why I don't feel quite so bad about what's happening to the building."

Leroux said the loss of this building is a moment people in Moncton can learn from.

Meanwhile, Coun. Paulette Theriault, said thePleasant Street building does not have a heritage designation.

"We are concerned because we have not designated heritage buildings since the '90s, I believe. And we cannot do it because we don't have the resources to do it."

Either way it would be torn down

ArchbishopValry Vienneausaid he was happy that council agreed to rezone the property the church is desperate to sell.

"We do want to keep the churches but we have to rationalize things, we have too many churches and we need to close some."

But he was clear when speaking to council, if the rezoningwas denied, the diocese planned to have the church demolished.

Vienneau said, "keeping the church building diminishes the property's value significantly and will hinder the full development of the lands."

The developer now plans to start construction by mid-summer and have the project done within a year.