Devotees take part in the first of a nine-day pre-dawn mass, locally called "Misa de Gallo", before Christmas at a church in Las Pinas, Metro Manila December 16, 2014. The pre-dawn mass is considered one of the most popular traditions among Fili
In Photo: Devotees take part in the first of a nine-day pre-dawn mass, locally called "Misa de Gallo", before Christmas at a church in Las Pinas, Metro Manila December 16, 2014. The pre-dawn mass is considered one of the most popular traditions among Filipinos during the Christmas season, the longest holiday celebration in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

The Catholic community in Ottawa is now $4 million richer, after its Roman Catholic Archdiocese has managed to sell the historic St. Charles Church in the Vanier neighbourhood.

The property, located on St. Charles Street that is between Beechwood Avenue and Barrette Street, was sold to an unnamed buyer. The building had been vacant since 2010, the Archdiocese said in a news release.

The Archdiocese further said the building had to be sold because it was already getting expensive to maintain it. The Archdiocese spends about $25,000 annually just to maintain the building. The church, built in 1908, once served the francophone community of Ottawa.

"Following a pastoral revision and the fact that less than 100 parishioners attended Sunday Mass, the parish council asked the archbishop to close the church," the Ottawa Citizen quoted Msgr. Daniel Berniquez, episcopal vicar for the francophone sector. He added that most parishioners attend the Communauté chrétienne Frère André on Cyr Avenue.

According to CBC News, the proceeds of the sale will be split based on the following:

  • 10 percent goes to the pension fund for the archdiocese's priests.
  • 40 percent gets to be shared equally between the two francophone parishes that owned the church:Marie-Médiatrice and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
  • 50 percent to create an endowment fund in support of pastoral work serving the Catholic francophone population of the archdiocese, with priority given to peopleliving in Vanier.

The new owner of the facility, CBC News said, intends to develop the site for a "mixed-use residential and commercial project, including a creative re-purposing of the former church building." But Jean-François Parent, a researcher at the Vanier Museopark, a community museum devoted to the history of Vanier, said it is saddening what will happen to the contents of the century-old structure or how it will be treated by the new owner.

"The interior of the church has a lot of architectural features that are classic early 20th century French Canadian church columns, mouldings, paintings, and we're a little bit worried that those features will disappear over the time," he told the Ottawa Citizen. He said the church building's circular window or "oeil-de-boeuf," as well as the bell tower, had been there since way back 1908.

But Andrew Reeves, LineBox Studio architect, assured the design of the building "will remain, views (of the) spire will be retained, and the interiors accessible to the public." He said the former church will be "redeveloped as a collection of small boutiques and restaurants," but stressed they will preserve the interior as much as possible.

"We want to protect and preserve (the church) and celebrate it for what it was and what it can be."