These reactions reflect the strong collective attachment to this school, both for its arts-focused educational program, unique in Canada, and for the former Montreal High School building, designed by the Maxwell brothers and inaugurated in 1914. Since 1975, the building has welcomed hundreds of French- and English-speaking elementary and secondary school students.

Héritage Montréal has been contacted by numerous members, parents and concerned citizens regarding this deplorable situation and the lack of information provided to justify the decision, apart from the estimated $375 million price tag for a project that has been planned for many years.

What exactly does this staggering amount cover? Have genuine efforts been made to reduce costs by adapting the educational program and school standards to the heritage building, rather than imposing them on it at great expense?

Furthermore, the school is owned by the Quebec government, which included it within the boundaries of the Mount Royal Heritage Site, designated in March 2005. The building is therefore protected by the government, including the Ministry of Education, which does not appear to recognize its responsibility in this regard. This inconsistency echoes the findings of the Auditor General of Quebec in her 2020 audit on the protection and enhancement of built heritage.

Finally, there is reason to fear that abandoning and putting this building up for sale, beyond the impact on the future of F.A.C.E., would add to the growing number of vacant public and institutional buildings. Relying on the real estate market to address the challenge of preserving this heritage building, including some of its interior spaces, such as its remarkable auditorium, overlooks the market’s actual capacity to undertake so many major adaptive reuse projects in the short term. In short, the best use for this protected heritage building remains its original purpose: a school.

Héritage Montréal is therefore calling for this decision to be put on hold and for the architects and other professionals involved to be formally tasked with identifying ways to reduce the project’s costs, including by adapting the educational program and school standards to the existing heritage building.

(*) F.A.C.E. stands for Formation artistique au cœur de l’éducation / Fine Arts Core Education.