2/16/10

Burning of 117 year old Franciscan church



I took these 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.






Below are photos I took of the burned down church on Friday February 12, 2010.

Franciscan Church in the media

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)