The Town of Gravelbourg is looking for proposals from organizations capable and qualified to repurpose the former Convent of the Sisters of Jesus & Mary, a Saskatchewan Heritage and National Historic site with more than 75,000 square feet of space.
“It is a heritage building, but what we’re looking for is an adaptive reuse,” explained Ariel Haug, Gravelbourg’s economic development officer. “There could be all sorts of possibilities for it. There’s been studies done into housing, like seniors housing, assisted living, or affordable housing, because of the beauty of the space. Huge windows, beautiful brick and stone, hardwood floor, all that is very appealing for housing, but we’ve never put the convent out there or opened it up for external proposals.
“Heritage buildings aren’t relics, they need to be living spaces, so we would like to see it fully used.”
Designed by prominent French-Canadian architect Joseph Fortin, the main building was finished in 1918 to accommodate the Sisters of Jesus & Mary out of Quebec. The north and south wings were added in 1926, and the building served as a residence for the nuns and a school for female boarders.
The site was operated as a convent until 1970. After that, it was the Gravelbourg Elementary School until 2016, when a new purpose-built school was opened next door. The Town of Gravelbourg bought the building from Prairie South School Division in October 2016.
The Gravelbourg Convent is currently occupied by the Gravelbourg Community Music Centre, the Gravelbourg Artisan Co-op, several studio spaces and aesthetic businesses, and a yoga studio. The enormous former chapel is regularly used to host weddings, markets, retreats, and other community events.
For that reason, a mixed-use proposal could be very attractive. Haug said one appealing idea is to develop a hotel on the upper floors, with the lower floors occupied by businesses and community organizations.
“What we’re looking for is the vision. These buildings are extremely rare, and why build something new when you can have the sustainable use of one of these grand old buildings, and make it last another hundred years?”
Submissions of Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be open until Feb. 24, with a tentative date of March 17 for the EOIs to be evaluated. The Town is reserving to right not to act on the EOIs, but if all goes well, Requests for Proposals could start by April 6.
Full details on the EOI process, including the 33-page document itself, are available from www.gravelbourgconvent.com.
"It is being used now, so we have high hopes it can continue to be used," Haug added. "I mean, it's a beautiful building, and it is massive, which is why we need to find a future for it. And I know that's important to the town and the people here and to the community."
