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A new pilot project by the Ville-Marie borough aims to help churches remain financially viable while freeing up space for community groups.
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St. James United rents out part of its outdoor space to flower vendors. Other churches rent out their space to theatre groups.
Now, the Ville-Marie borough wants to put together an official framework so churches and other religious institutions can diversify the use of their space. In a pilot project approved by the borough council last week, the process to use churches and religious institutions as community spaces will be simplified, starting with a select group of institutions. The hope is it will result in more projects coming forward to both help the bottom lines of the churches so they remain financially viable, and free up much-needed space for community groups.
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While there is nothing currently stopping churches from changing the use of their space, the process is complicated and managed by the city. This new project brings the approval process to the borough and will make clear which uses will be accepted.
“The problem is that the process in place is very long,” said Robert Beaudry, a Ville-Marie councillor and the executive committee member in charge of urban planning. “It takes between 12 and 18 months to put together a project, and you have no guarantee that it will be accepted.”
The first phase of the project is to modify the city’s urban plan to allow the borough to have control over this matter. In the next steps, the borough will outline a framework of the types of uses that should be permitted at churches and other religious institutions that want to explore new revenue streams.
“We want to give more flexibility and more options to see projects that can respond to the needs of the public,” Beaudry said. “That will allow us to occupy these spaces and preserve these buildings also.”
A total of 15 churches will be included in the pilot project. They are:
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If the pilot project is successful, it will be expanded to other churches in the borough and eventually to other boroughs across the city.
“That’s the goal. We want to avoid the patchwork of each borough having its own idea,” Beaudry said. “Depending on how it goes, we’ll see how it can be expanded. We see the Ville-Marie borough as a laboratory for these kinds of projects.”
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The hope is also that religious institutions around the city can remain vibrant and their spaces used, as many of them are heritage properties that require a lot of upkeep.
“We see that a building that is abandoned is a building that deteriorates very quickly. Our goal is to keep the buildings accessible to the public,” Beaudry said.
While St. James United has already undertaken some projects to diversify its revenue stream, it’s not enough to pay for much-needed restoration work. This new initiative by the borough will help it find more ways to raise funds.
“It’s useful, because as a church, you’re not supposed to bring in commercial revenue, so most of the revenue has to come from donations,” said Jean Lagueux, the chair of St. James United’s board of trustees. “This shows a willingness to allow churches to explore more commercial revenues without affecting their exemption (to pay property tax).”
Lagueux said while St. James already rents out part of its outdoor space to a flower vendor, it took more than a year to get permission from the city.
The church will have to find more sources of financing, as it is in the midst of a major restoration project that will cost in the tens of millions of dollars.
“We have to look at long-term activities that will be beneficial to St. James,” Lagueux said. “Raising between $15 million and $18 million, a $1,000-per-month flower rental isn’t going to get us there. The building was built in 1887, and it has major challenges. Yes, it’s beautiful, but the stonework needs to be taken care of. This type of program gives us a little more breathing space. It’s not the whole answer, but (it helps).”
jmagder@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jasonmagder
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