The former Immaculée-Conception Church

The Immaculée-Conception Church, built in 1957 according to the plans of Oblate brother Léopold Ouimet, is a former Catholic place of worship with a simple and carefully ordered layout. The building has a rectangular plan punctuated by two side projections, with lean-to roofs over the choir and two additional projections on the facade. The adjoining presbytery was built in the same year.

Resting on high concrete foundations and an imposing slab supporting the steel structure of the walls and frame, the church is a particularly sturdy construction. The entire building is clad in pink artificial stone, which unifies the facades, while the asphalt shingle roof emphasizes the simplicity of the gable roof. A central bell tower, rising above the main facade, completes the building's silhouette.

Photo credit: Paul Trépanier

At the bell tower, the sound baffles are located only at the corners of the bell chamber, leaving the central sections open. These are closed off by an elegant ornamental iron grille from which a cross stands out. The spire is topped by a second cross that enhances the vertical silhouette of the bell tower.

Photo credit: Paul Trépanier

Observe the facade and layout in front of you. Notice the many details that come together in all their simplicity! 

The main entrance is preceded by three flights of stairs lined with ornamental iron lampposts. It consists of a double door framed by two single doors, all united under an imposing mitered arch made of black artificial stone that contrasts with the pink faux stone facing. The side elevations are punctuated by triplets of mitered arch windows on the ground floor and rectangular windows in the basement. 

Here you can see the interior of the church just after its deconsecration. 

The former temple reflects the size and simplicity of this old parish, which was both vast and modest. With 850 seats in the nave and a hundred more in the rood gallery and choir, it was one of the most spacious in the diocese. The parish hall in the basement could accommodate up to 1,000 people, meeting the needs of a community that was heavily involved in social and labor issues. 

Photo credit: Paul Trépanier

The Immaculée-Conception Church is of significant heritage interest for its historical value. It reflects the birth and development of one of the most active and influential working-class parishes in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. 

Founded in 1938 and entrusted to the Missionaries of Marie-Immaculalée, it became the third parish in the city of Rouyn-Noranda, after Saint-Michel-Archange (1927) and Notre-Dame-de-Protection (1929). Its history embodies the demographic and economic boom of Rouyn-Noranda in the mid-20th century, as well as the collective desire to provide the industrial city with institutions adapted to the growing needs of working-class families, who make up the majority of the neighbourhood it serves.

Notice the contrasting shingles on the roof in the photo of the newly completed building! 

Photo credit: Archives of the Parish of Saint-Trinité

This former place of worship is at the heart of a vast institutional complex, the largest in the entire region, developed on the former property of the Oblates of Marie-Immaculée of the Immaculée-Conception Parish in Rouyn. 

This complex includes the first church, now converted, as well as the first presbytery, which became a convent and then a residential building. Added to this are the second presbytery, now dedicated to community use, the former Mazenod school, and the former Pie-XII home, converted into a long-term care facility. The site is also home to the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Funeral Cooperative, located on the site of the former Notre-Dame-du-Cap retirement home, which is now closed. This complex therefore forms an institutional hub that shapes the history and landscape of the city.

In the photo, the Mazenod school, now the Rouyn-Noranda CSS. 

Photo credit: Archives of the Sainte-Trinité Parish

In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the Immaculée-Conception Church stands out as one of the most ambitious community projects of its time. Rarely has the construction of a collective building relied on such extensive and decisive volunteer participation, making this project a true community effort.

Photo credit: Archives of the Holy Trinity Parish

The former Immaculéé-Conception Church is of considerable heritage interest for its architectural value. It illustrates the constantly evolving expertise of the Oblate missionaries. Designed and supervised not by an architect, but by Brother Léopold Ouimet, one of the order's most influential master builders, it stands out for its sober, modern, and well-executed architecture.

Built on concrete foundations and a slab supporting walls and a steel frame, the church features clean lines and a spatial layout that promotes fluidity between celebrants and worshippers. It features Ouimet's main architectural signatures: a high, luminous nave, geometric bell towers and spires set on square bases, and a choir designed to accommodate a backlit altarpiece dominated by a monumental statue of the Virgin Mary, a common feature in Oblate churches.

It is one of the most accomplished examples of Léopold Ouimet's work. Several of its features have been replicated in other churches in the region, including the one in Ville-Marie, built in 1960. Today, it remains one of the best-preserved Oblate buildings in the region. 

Here you can see the steel structure of the former Immaculée-Conception Church being assembled. Cranes were of course necessary for this assembly, but the contribution of volunteer citizens was crucial in reaching this stage and those that followed. 

In the background, note the presence of the old chapel, which was used until the new church was inaugurated! Although it has been incorporated into another building and greatly modified (transformed into a recreation and community center), this chapel still exists to the right of the current church. 

Photo credit: Archives of the Holy Trinity Parish

- 1957 Design and construction

- 1991 Renovations (upgrades to safety standards)

- 2021 Desacralization

- Its location at the center of the parish core at the intersection of two public roads

- Its location adjacent to the former parish presbytery

- Its elevated position above street level

- Its rectangular shape and gabled roof

- Its materials, including concrete foundations and pink and black artificial stone cladding

- Its miter-arched openings

- Its miter-arched windows and blue and yellow glass panes

- Its high front steps

- Its main facade with three doors, including a double door in the center

- Its central bell tower

- Its facade with its statue of the Immaculée-Conception