Too ugly to kill

>> Local residents up in arms to save oddball building

By JOHN EDMONDS

Should it be put out of its misery? The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at the corner of Dr. Penfield and Cote-des-Neiges, has long been a source of bemusement to passing motorists ("What's that thing?"). Resembling nothing so much as a giant pair of stack-and-store lawn tables with a thin coating of mold, it is slated for demolition to make way for 46 condos. But every last resident on the little island of land between the busy boulevards opposes its destruction, out of--strangely enough--fondness.

"It's a monumental building! Have any of you ever been inside it? Have you?" asked Sandra Cohen-Rose, spokesperson for local residents, while giving polite hell to Montreal's city council during public question period last Monday. "We shouldn't bow to the whim of every developer!" said the feisty middle-aged woman. "There wouldn't be an old building left in this city if we let the developers have their way. We don't need another gaudy tower!"

But do we need this gaudy house of worship? Apparently so, according to Cohen-Rose, author of Northern Deco: Art Deco Architecture in Montreal, and a few other architectural voices in Montreal agree. Susan Bronson, who teaches architecture at the Universite de Montreal, calls the building a jewel of "modern heritage," which she defines as architecture from the 1930s to the 1970s. Bronson believes this building's true value won't be fully appreciated until the future.

Space junk?

George Parsons, president of the board of directors of the First Church of Christ, Scientist of Montreal, says the Christian Scientists (who believe that faith can cure disease, and are not to be confused with the Scientologists of John Travolta and L. Ron Hubbard fame) had to sell the building because they simply couldn't afford to keep it running. "The thing costs more to heat than we pull in with the collection plate," said Parsons. "If these residents had wanted us to keep it they should have showed up for our services and made a donation."

Parsons, like Bronson and Cohen-Rose, denies that the building is ugly. But city councillor Jeremy Searle told the Gazette, "It's a piece of junk." He was more circumspect with the Mirror though, allowing only that "it looks like a shuttle beamed down from the Starship Enterprise."

Should it be preserved because it's ugly? "The building's appearance is totally irrelevant," replied Searle. "What's important is its location, with the Montreal General Hospital on one side--which might well be demolished--and Marianopolis on the other--which will be sold sometime in the not-too-distant future. It's a key area. Whether you like the building or not, you have to wonder what we're going to replace it with."

Searle said that, probably due to the residents' resistance, the city's executive committee withdrew the development's approval from this month's agenda, putting the project on hold--for now.

So heritage freaks can take heart in the knowledge that it might still be saved for future generations to appreciate. Or not. :

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