Franciscan church

I took the top 3 photos on January 7, 2010. A month later, a five alarm fire burned the abandoned Franciscan church to the ground. The historical church, built 117 years ago, had been abandoned for several years. Like so many other old buildings in Montreal, there's a general sense of neglect with the city turning a blind eye on anything historical, perennially obsessed with turning everything into condos or destroying old buildings in lieu of condos. The burning of the Franciscan church is endemic of this attitude.





Newspaper articles on the burning of the historical Franciscan church:

THE GAZETTE

Historic Montreal church burns to ground Link

Buyers were lined up for church property Link

LA PRESSE

Un incendie détruit une église de Montréal Link


photos: La Presse (first) and The Gazette (all others)

 

The top photo was taken in February 2010  after the fire that destroyed the 117 year old Franciscan church on Rene Levesque.  The photo below was taken today. Nothing is left of the Franciscan church and adjoining red brick building. I'm surprise they destroyed the one on the far left as it wasn't damaged at all and it was a solid building (the three photos at the bottom). I love the thin windows design on it. I've just added a main page on the 117 church to see all the postings on VM. The original posts are here and here. Not even the cross (3rd photo). They should have kept the cross there, as a remembrance of the church. 

The Church and red building still exist on Google maps.

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