Quebec is investing more than $10 million to revitalize 22 heritage religious buildings in order to give them a second life.
Culture Minister Nathalie Roy made the announcement Thursday in Chelsea, in the Outaouais region. The funds were already included in the last budget.
Roy said 12 of the 22 projects are new projects in "development," while the other 10 are in the transformation stage.
Among the new projects are the conversion of the Church of Saint-Enfant-Jésus in Montreal into a civic space and the conversion of the Chapelle conventuelle du Sacré-Coeur in Baie-Saint-Paul into an interpretation centre.
The Church of Sainte-Anne in Yamachiche and the Church of Saint-Romuald in Farnham also received funding for their library and socio-cultural centre projects.
In total, the 12 projects under development will share $238,578, while the lion's share - $10,021,178 - goes to the 10 most advanced projects.
These include the transformation of the Church of Saint-Alexandre in Port-Cartier, the Church of Sainte-Brigide-de-Kildare in Montreal, and the Church of Saint-André in Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
While in the Outaouais region, Minister Roy confirmed $624,762 in funding for the La Fab sur Mill project, which will transform the former Chelsea United Church, built in 1875, into a cultural centre.
The space will be used as an artist studio, exhibition and performance space. The government's support will go toward preserving the building's structure and architectural features.
"These investments will allow for projects that aim to give a second life to beautiful buildings," Roy said later in a statement.
"They will therefore continue to bear witness to the legacy of the generations that helped build our culture and identity," she added.
The amounts announced Thursday are in addition to the $15 million already invested by the government in the Program for the Protection, Transmission and Enhancement of Religious Cultural Heritage.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 3, 2022
