By Liz MacKenzie
The neglected and abandoned Our Lady’s School is finally getting some attention. The City informed that scaffolding was installed at 287 Cumberland for repair work to the foundation and walls to be preserved. After all the neighbourhood has suffered, with congested traffic, loss of sidewalks and local embarrassment, the community awaits the outcomes of work planned “per schedule provided by the heritage engineer for Mr. Lauzon,” the owner. Claude Lauzon, has been ordered to brace and retain the east and north walls to be incorporated into a new building.
For years now, sidewalk closures and lane reductions have plagued Murray Street in a seeming attempt to “protect” the public from Our Lady. Meanwhile, pictures show that not a single brick has been dislodged, nor a single stone lintel shifted, despite the efforts of the owner to destroy the 110-year-old. This solid old girl did not flinch through years of wind and rain blowing through her open windows.
So why the fuss about protecting the public from falling bricks when clearly the façade is sound? Perhaps this is just the smoke and mirrors charade of declaring a building unsafe as a precursor to getting a demolition permit.
Let’s hope there are good times ahead for the old girl. We sure would like to see her proud again−and we’d like to get our sidewalks back!