Published November 17, 2023

JOHN JANTAK
The 1510 West

The plan to tear down the ruins of the Braerob Farmhouse in Ste. Anne de Bellevue has been stopped, said the town’s mayor, Paola Hawa.

“The Montreal agglomeration has put a hold on our plans, as has the provincial Ministry of Culture and Communications at the provincial level,” Hawa told The 1510 West. “Now, we’re waiting for them to get back to us as to what the next steps could possibly be.”

The historical significance and value of the farmhouse, which dates back to 1797, were the reasons given for stopping the demolition two months after the town submitted its demolition request in September, Hawa said.

Ste. Anne council opted to demolish the ruins because the cost of renovating the stone farmhouse, known officially as the Maison Michel Robillard, was simply too high for the small town to cover.

“We had the money pre-COVID, but when all the prices exploded after COVID, the cost is now double what it was. We can’t afford it any more,” Hawa said.

The original cost of the renovation work was about $2.4 million, with the town footing less than half as it had a $1.4-million grant from the province. But now the cost estimates have nearly doubled to $4.3 million.

“That’s too expensive,” Hawa said. “We reached out to them and said it was all right a few years ago, but now with this new reality and pricing it just doesn’t cut it.”

The town is waiting to hear from the Montreal agglomeration and provincial culture ministry regarding their restoration proposals for the farmhouse.

“It’s basically out of our hands right now,” Hawa said. We did the first step in the process of holding a demolition committee and recommending the demolition.”

“But because of the way the process and structure is set up, that resolution has to go to the agglo and Quebec,” she explained. “Once they found out our intention, they contacted us and put a stop to the demolition until they could do whatever they need to do on their end.”

“Your guess is as good as mine as to what’s going to happen next.” Hawa added.

It is now uncertain whether a structure that will serve as a welcome centre at the entrance to the l’Anse à l’Orme Nature Park will be ready by the time the elevated REM commuter rail service arrives in 2024.

“The window is narrowing. Either we’re going to have to renovate the Braerob if some money falls from the sky and/or we’re going to have to build a new entrance,” Hawa said. “It’s a pretty long, laborious process. You have to get the design, approve it, go out for quotes publicly. You just don’t build something.”

The town of Ste. Anne acquired the old house in 2018 from the Grilli Property Group, which had owned it since 2005 and had intended to build a residential housing development in the surrounding area.

At a cost to Ste. Anne of $60,000, the purchase of the old stone house was part of a larger scheme that saw the Montreal agglomeration invest about $11 million to expand the Anse à l’Orme park, a move the ended a long-running campaign that had pit conservationists against the real estate developer. Later, the city of Montreal invested another $21 million to expand the Grand Parc de l’Ouest.

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