Former Parish Hall Burned Down in NS

As reported by CBC News, the former Carmel Centre had been burned down completely in New Waterford, Nova Scotia. 

There is no official cause of the fire as of yet, but the entirety of the building had been burned and what was left was excavated and pulled down for safety reasons. Fire Chief Matt Hawley says they received the call around 2:45 a.m. and that smoke was pouring out of the building.

There were no injuries and the building was vacant at the time of the fire. Investigation into the cause will not continue and the cause remains undetermined.

The Carmel Centre was previously being used by Saint Leonard Parish for their hall. 

As reported by SaltWire.com, the Carmel Centre was originally a convent for the Congregation of the Notre-Dame nuns during the 1800s who had come to teach the children of coal miners. The Centre had then been in the care of the Sisters of Charity by the 1920s and later demolished. In 1967 and 1968 two new convents were built, one St. Agnes and one being the Mount Carmel Convent. Many nuns who resided there eventually moved to Halifax. During this time, the property was then donated to what was called the Carmel Centre Society and in 1997 the society took control of the building.

The centre was then used for many purposes over the years and became a staple to the community. During the year of 9/11 is when community engagement gradually went down and the building eventually became less in use.