Pointe-Claire has adopted a bylaw to protect the institutional core of its historic village, which is set to mark its 300 anniversary.
Last week, council approved a bylaw recognizing “la Pointe-Claire” as a heritage site, an area that includes St. Joachim Church, the adjacent presbytery and the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame convent as well as the iconic windmill that is used as the city’s official logo. While the new bylaw focuses on the historic church and windmill properties south of Demers St. to the lake, it also mentions the “beadle” house on St. Joachim St. (which is used by the church) and the nearby St. Marguerite-Bourgeoys elementary school, which date to about the 1950s. It requires the latter two properties, which don’t have a historic component, to keep their integrity and be maintained.
As well, any new construction in this heritage zone must now be subject to a visual impact study and any work must serve to preserve or enhance the landscape or its architecture. No demolition can take place without prior authorization from the city. An archeological survey must be made regarding any excavation work. As well, two statues on church property and a cross near the windmill must be maintained in their current site.
Mayor Bill McMurchie said the heritage area warranted having its own stricter bylaw.
“We have something special here, and we want to protect it for the benefit of future generations,” he told The Gazette.
In the end, the city had the blessing of the parish, which owns the heritage properties, for its new bylaw, McMurchie said.
Claude Arsenault, head of the Société pour la Sauvegarde du Patrimoine de Pointe-Claire, said residents should be proud of the new bylaw but added he hopes the city will back up its good intentions with funding to restore or maintain this waterfront heritage point. Though, he added, the church has already benefited from a provincial grant to restore religious buildings deemed to have heritage value.
Arsenault said local heritage supporters had been lobbying the city to adopt such a bylaw after St. Joachim Church had proposed building a modern-style 10,000-square-foot parish hall on a green expanse, formerly a cemetery, in 2004.