Built in 1958 according to plans by architect Jean-Charles Fortin, the former Sacré-Cœur-de-Jésus Church has a Latin cross plan supported by a laminated frame covered with stone and brick. Its transepts, almost as long as the nave, and the sacristy housed in a flat-roofed annex mark the composition, while a passageway connects the west transept to the former presbytery.
The facade is dominated by a large mitre arch combining a triple doorway and a large window with chevron tracery, separated by a canopy featuring the same motif. Two monumental sculptures of angels in prayer enliven the stone surfaces.
With no bell tower, the church is crowned by a triangular steel and glass lantern, which illuminates the transept crossing with zenithal light.
Today, the church and presbytery house the Le Phénix daycare center.
Photo credit: Paul Trépanier
The opening of the Sacré-Cœur-de-Jésus church in 1959 marked the development of Noranda Ouest, a neighbourhood that the city had been planning since the post-war period on its western flank. Then came the announcement of the founding of a new parish in 1950, which would be named Sacré-Cœur-de-Jésus.
In the same vein, the neighborhood's new school, which had just been completed, was named Sacré-Cœur. Starting in 1950, parishioners gathered for Mass at l’école Supérieure, where collections supported the future parish. In 1953, Sunday celebrations moved to the chapel of Sacré-Cœur School, where they continued until the inauguration of the new church.
The drawing shows the first draft with a completely different presbytery!
Photo credit: Archives of Holy Trinity Parish
Architectural drawing of the interior of the church.
Photo credit: Archives of the Holy Trinity Parish
The interior as it was in 1959 and until its transformation in 2014. The people in the photo are most likely parishioners who volunteered to help build the church and rectory.
Note the beautiful period light fixtures and the large window opening at the rear of the old church. Needless to say, the building must have been filled in beautiful natural light!
Photo credit: BAnQ
Here we can clearly see the laminated wood beams that make up the self-supporting structure of the former Sacré-Cœur church. A jewel of modern architecture and a totally new way of building churches!
Previously built high up to be closer to the heavens, churches of the modern movement seek to be closer to the faithful. This is why, among other reasons, they are built on a more human scale and with more openness to the outside world.
Take a close look at this photo of the newly completed church. Obviously, the landscaping still needs to be done, but something else catches our attention.
Rising in the center of the roof and at the junction of the building's various wings, the famous glass and metal spire stands proudly, replacing the traditional bell tower. Still standing today, it now brightens the days of little ones!
The former Sacré-Cœur-de-Jésus Church in Noranda is of major heritage interest for its architectural value. Built in 1958, it is one of the first examples of modern religious architecture in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, and remains one of the best preserved. Its architect, Jean-Charles Fortin, an important figure in the region's avant-garde movement of the 1950s, experimented with a completely new way of designing liturgical space.
The modernity of the space is reflected in its more centered layout and shallow choir, which brings the faithful closer to the altar. At the crossing, laminated wood arches intersect to create a vast volume capable of supporting a lantern that provides lighting from above. The church's exceptional luminosity comes from multiple sources!
Outside, the simplicity of the forms highlights the pink Adirondack stone cladding, against which two imposing sculptures of angels in prayer stand out, reinforcing the unique and modern character of the building.
- 1958 Construction
- 1959 Opening of the church
- 2011 Desacralization
- 2014 Conversion
- Its elevated position above street level
- Its Latin cross plan and gabled roof
- Its materials, including concrete foundations and brick and stone cladding
- Its triple-pane double doorway, canopy, and large mitered arch window on the facade
- Its openwork side windows
- Its slit windows in the gable of the chevet
- Its glass lantern, metal spire, and cross