BY BARB SWEET
The Telegram  -  1/18/00

St. John's city council rejected heritage designation Monday night for the former Belvedere orphanage and convent.

The Sisters of Mercy Generalate owns the properties and are desperate to sell them. They have one offer that would turn the Bonaventure site into a $12-million subdivision.

The Sisters did not want the buildings designated heritage properties, because such a designation could make it difficult for council to approve any future proposal to demolish the structures. A nun and the congregation's lawyer met with council in its private session Monday.

There are two historical buildings on the property: the two-storey Belvedere convent, which is more than 170 years old, and the four-storey orphanage, built in 1885.

The Sisters of Mercy left the convent in May 1999 because of safety concerns.

Coun. Shannie Duff was the lone opposition to a motion by Coun. Keith Coombs to turn down heritage designation.

Duff said the buildings received one of the highest ratings the city's heritage advisory committee has ever issued. She hoped there would be time to try to work with the province or find some other way of saving the buildings. She suggested the city could try to offer a tax incentive to anyone who wanted to preserve the buildings.

Mayor Andy Wells said she had plenty of time, since a proposal from the private developer has been around since October.

Deputy Mayor Marie White backed up Duff, arguing the city couldn't work on it's own proposal, subverting the developer's application.

Long-term issue

Wells said city council has been arguing for 20 years about heritage buildings and it comes down to one thing: lack of money to preserve them.

He said he'd like to see a $1-million-per-year fund dedicated to preservation.

"And every time a building comes up, it's the same old story and what is required is some kind of a commitment federally, provincially and for that matter municipally to the cause of heritage preservation to put some serious dollars into preserving buildings in this province," Wells said following the meeting.

But he also said there has to be a good use for a preserved building.

"If we owned the convent in there ourselves, if it was all renovated and it was a beautiful building, what if we couldn't find anything useful to do with it?"

Last fall, council rejected a rezoning request by Myles-Leger Ltd. to build an upscale 114-townhouse subdivision on the property, but the company has revised that application.

Company vice-president Bill Clarke said Monday night the decision of council to reject heritage designation is an "amazing turnaround."

The company resubmitted its plan, shaving off 10 per cent of the homes and putting a second access to the cul de sac and meeting other concerns city officials had.

"I don't know if it's a perfect plan but we've addressed the situation as best we could," Clarke said.

The property would have to be rezoned from institutional to residential R3 for the subdivision to go ahead.

The Avalon East School Board, which has three schools in the area, had expressed some concerns about the proposal, and Clarke said he hopes a meeting can be set up.

While Myles-Leger initially said it's not economically viable to save the convent and orphanage, Clarke said the company doesn't want to bulldoze them.

"If we could find a marketable way of keeping buildings, there's nothing better than that we would like to do," he said.

In 1999, the Sisters spent $60,000 just to maintain empty buildings, Wells said.

"Unfortunately with Mrs. Duff, if she were spending her own money, I'm sure she'd have a different opinion," Wells said. "I would not want to be wasting my money in the way in which we are now requiring the Sisters of Mercy to waste their money."

The Sisters of Mercy had to keep the electricity on and hire security to keep crowds of young people from gathering on the property at night. Extensive efforts have been made find buyers, but it seems no developer, large or small, was interested in the buildings.

Myles Leger offered about $500,000 for the land.

The buildings were already designated heritage properties by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, but that doesn't protect them from being razed.

According to heritage consultant Shane O'Dea, the convent, built in 1826-27 by lawyer and politician Hugh Alexander Emerson, is the third-oldest structure in the city. It was sold in 1847 to Bishop Michael Fleming as accommodation for the Franciscans and it is where he died in 1850.

The Belvedere Orphanage is said to be one of the finest masonry examples of the Second Empire style in the province. It was used as an orphanage until 1969 when it became, among other things, offices for the now defunct Roman Catholic School Board.

• Also read: A Brief History of Belvedere Convent and Orphanage, by Shane O'Dea; or
• E-mails support saving Belvedere property
• and check out A Photo Record of Belvedere Convent and Orphanage