Maison Moïse-Prégent : Dismantled and transformed into a park

This year, the City of Châteauguay will dismantle the Moïse-Prégent House, considered to be one of the first, if not the first, built in Châteauguay in the village area between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Abandoned over 10 years ago, the site of the house will be transformed into a municipal park dedicated to heritage.

Translation Amanda Bennett

In January 2025, the municipal council approved a zoning change to include the lot, where the house and its annexes are currently located, in to a park area that will bear the name Moïse-Prégent. It is located at 4, chemin de la Haute-Rivière, very close to rue Principale, the Arthur-Laberge bridge and the Châteauguay River.

A conceptual illustration of the project. (Photo: courtesy of the City of Châteauguay)

The City will opt for dismantling with heritage oversight rather than demolition, in order to ”recover and reuse the materials that are still viable for integration into the future development of the park.” This work will be carried out in collaboration with the Société du musée du Grand Châteauguay, the organization that manages the Maison LePailleur. “This approach will allow for a detailed analysis of the condition of the materials and will provide us with the time necessary for their sustainable and responsible recovery through selective sorting,” explained Karine Landerman, Director General of the Maison LePailleur museum.

The example of the Espace Gravel

A similar approach was taken in 2016 with the Gravel House, next door to the LePailleur House. Some of the walls and architectural features were preserved and the site is now a place for relaxation and interpretation. The dismantling led to some interesting discoveries, according to Ms. Landerman, such as a stone engraved with the year the Gravel house was built, found under the exterior cladding and now on display in the Gravel space. “The same thing could happen with the Moïse-Prégent House. We will therefore see what discoveries await us, but some elements specific to buildings of that period would be interesting to include, such as the height of the ridge pole, the two slopes, the chimneys and the rubble masonry,” she pointed out.

A park with several vocations

The installation of historical interpretation panels and the addition of street furniture and lighting are planned for the future park, as well as the creation of a sponge park for rainwater management, the upgrading of the bocce ball courts and the addition of an access point to the river.

The City is not able to say how much the project will cost at the moment since it has not yet been defined, said Isabelle Beyrouti, the City's Director of Communications. “We must first deconstruct the house, see which materials are still in good condition and can be reused, and then we will proceed with the actual work of drawing up plans and specifications with our engineering team, she explained. The city will try to obtain subsidies for this project.

The dismantling of the house is scheduled for 2025. After that, the development work will be staggered over several years, with completion estimated around 2028-2029. They will be synchronized with the work to separate the rainwater and sanitary sewers planned in the 2025-2029 five-year capital plan.

Long neglected

The City bought the house in 2014 for $285,000 because it considered the site strategic for redeveloping and enhancing this historic sector. Inspection reports from that time already indicated that the premises were in poor condition. The situation worsened over the years. In 2018, the city council at the time wanted to divest itself of the house, but had not received any bids in response to its call for tenders. In June of that year, the chimney had to be demolished urgently as it was in danger of collapsing.

In 2022, a woman died in a fire in the barn located on the grounds of the Maison Moïse-Prégent. She had become trapped in the building, which had been barricaded by municipal employees a few hours before the tragedy. The coroner responsible for investigating her death recommended the demolition of this derelict property.