A brochure from the real estate company DTZ Barnicke is marketing the property, shown here in a Google Map image, as a \A brochure from the real estate company DTZ Barnicke is marketing the property, shown here in a Google Map image, as a "simply extraordinary development opportunity." (Google Maps)

A century-old cloistered convent in Ottawa's Westboro neighbourhood has been put up for auction as the City of Ottawa scrambles to protect it with a heritage designation.

"It would be a travesty to lose something like this," said Christine Leadman, city councillor for Kitchissippi Ward where Les Soeurs de la Visitation convent is located, in an interview Friday.

Property history

"The history of the property goes way back to the founding of the village itself," said Christine Leadman.

It was originally purchased by James Skead, owner of a nearby mill that supported the village in the 1870s, who built his house on the property where it remains, Leadman added. Skead, who also served as local alderman, MP and senator over his career, later sold the property to George Holland, the 19th-century reporter of the Senate Hansard for whom Holland Avenue is named.

Les Soeurs de La Visitation took over the property after his death.

City staff are expected to complete a report in September to support the bid for heritage designation for the property at 114 Richmond Rd. near Island Park Drive. That would protect the original 1880 stone building and an addition built in 1919 from being changed by the new owner, but will not stop the development of the two hectares of green space surrounding them, Leadman said.

She suggested the eight-storey condos springing up in the area have put pressure on the handful of elderly nuns believed to remain at the convent.

"It's been a very secluded and cloistered community and probably doesn't fit in right now in that element," she said. "But at the same time, we have an opportunity to take advantage of a unique heritage property and protect it as much as we can."

A brochure from the real estate company DTZ Barnicke is marketing the property as a "simply extraordinary development opportunity." Its brochure includes images of a round stained glass window surrounded by painted accents, an airy chapel with coloured frescoes painted on both the walls and the arched ceilings, and exterior shots displaying the grey stone work and glistening bell tower.

There is no asking price, but Leadman estimates the property is worth tens of millions of dollars — more than the city could afford.

Gary Ludington, co-chair of the Westboro Community Association, said it's the last large piece of undeveloped property along bustling Richmond Road, and the group has been expecting its sale.

"Here we've got one more chance, one more kick at the can to do something that's really right," he said, "and not just necessarily for the commercial, the dollar value of what's going to go into somebody's pocket."

David Jeanes, spokesman for Heritage Ottawa, said there was no reason to give the buildings heritage designation before because there was no indication the nuns would be moving out.

However, he said, if the nuns object to the designation, which could reduce the sale value of the property, that could make things more difficult.

The heritage designation can go ahead even if the building is sold before the designation is in place.