ST-HENRI PUBLIC LIBRARY

Despite its being abandoned since 2009, the former Notre-Dame library has served the residents of the Saint-Henri neighbourhood throughout history; first, as a fire station in 1898, and, from 1965, as a children’s library, until the latter was moved to a building across the street in 2008. Located in southwestern Montréal on a busy intersection of Notre-Dame and De Courcelles streets, this municipally-owned building has witnessed the passage of time in a neighbourhood that experienced numerous changes, from early industrialization to deindustrialization, including the rise of one of the most important francophone working-class communities of the city and the recent waves of gentrification and condominium developments. At first sight, the building seems out of place. As we stand in front of the abandoned building, we can notice the contrast between the stillness of the place and the dynamic energy of the surroundings. The noise of street traffic, children in nearby schools, trains passing on nearby tracks every now and then; the newly opened restaurants and shops. As if caught in a suspended temporality, the building seems like a residue of a neighbourhood that underwent rapid transformations. It stands like a ruin of a bygone era with no clear purpose for the future.

The public vocation of this building, however, is what makes it an iconic site in the neighbourhood. Despite its vacant status, it has been added to the list of historical sites with exceptional architectural and heritage value. Its legacy is precisely what many community organizations, such as CDC Solidarité Saint Henri and la Société historique de Saint-Henri, want to preserve against the rampant forces of capitalistic displacement and erasure. In the last few years, the building has been the subject of numerous community-led consultations with the local municipality in view of repurposing it for the future benefit of local communities. Overall, the former library site is a reminder of a strong community identity that local populations wish to preserve. Though its vacant state attests to the uncertainty surrounding its future and that of Notre-Dame street, it also stands as an opportunity of designing an urban site that takes into account locals’ needs and aspirations.