An abandoned church in Montreal’s Sainte-Marie neighbourhood has turned into a danger zone after young people have been breaking into it for thrills and filming it for social media. Church officials say someone could get seriously hurt. Meanwhile, the parish is facing $250,000 in fines. Inside the Saint-Eusèbe-de-Verceil church, near the intersection of Fullum and La Rivière streets, there’s mould, asbestos, bird droppings left behind by a growing flock of pigeons, and one very fed up pastor. “They are painting things that are not respectful. Kill God 666, is the number of the devil,” said Roger Dufresne about the rotating cast of young trespassers who break into the building. They call themselves urban explorers. Dufresne says the young people climb this narrow staircase to ring the bell in the church’s tower. They throw organ pipes onto the first floor but worries they’ll get hurt. “It‘s dangerous,” Dufresne said. ”It‘s for that we put some barricade.” He set up a three-metre-high plywood wall around the church after the city hit the parish with nearly hefty fines for letting the place fall into disrepair. On the outside, bricks were falling off this wall. Dufresne says he’s tried everything to keep people off the property but nothing is stopping the urban exploration (urbex) fans. And when he calls the police? “When they caught them, they say, ‘Tsk, tsk, it‘s not good,’ but we can do nothing for you,” he said. He thinks they should face community service but the real solution, he says, is to turn this space into 200 homes — a plan he wants fast tracked. In a statement to CTV News, the Archdiocese of Montreal confirmed it is currently negotiating with the city for developing or repurposing the project. The city didn’t respond to requests for comment, but until an agreement is reached, the wall stays up and so do the risks.
