For more than 100 years, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Lachine has been home to an order of nuns, but with their numbers dwindling, the sisters are hoping to help the building find a new purpose.
The order has decided to donate the house to the community.
“We’re going to change this housing, the actual building here, to actually welcome people, elderly people,” said motherhouse general manager Jacques Sevigny.
The building currently houses more than 100 nuns, but as their numbers dwindle, they said they want their place of worship to be put to good use. The building will soon house around 270 apartments for seniors, with the possibility of some low-income housing or even a school.
The building will also be sold to a non-profit community organization.
“Directly, it’s the last three years but we started 10 years ago trying to find somebody who would be interested in buying this place,” said president of the board Celine Dupuis.
Dupuis said that while looking for a buyer, the nuns were adamant the building not be turned into condos. She said the decision to use the structure for good was an easy one.
“It’s like elderly people who have to give things to their own children,” she said. “We don’t have any children, so our children is all the population around.”
Public consultations on the plan are expected to be held in the spring and a zoning change would be needed. But Borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic said she will offer her full support.
“It feels like the sisters’ spirit will live on,” she said. “That’s what it feels like, it feels like they’re not going away.”
As for the sisters themselves, they won’t be going far. A new building to house them is being built nearby.
“If we see other people being happy in our own space, we cannot ask for more than that,” said Dupuis.
