Historic church to be destroyed and replaced by campus for students in France
The Church of St. Joseph in the French city of Lille will be demolished to make way for a students campus. Attempts were made to defend it by a local Christian association protecting historical buildings. However, the Ministry of Culture disagreed, and the administrative court rejected the association's complaint. It was the only legal way to stop the demolition.
The university chapel was built in the nineteenth century, charmed with the beauty of its sacred architecture. However, on Monday, an administrative court in Lille rejected a local association’s application, which had been arguing for several months against the building’s destruction.
The building belongs to the Catholic school complex in Lille. A town for students of the technical and engineering faculty is to be built on the location.
According to multiple appraisals, it would have been possible to renovate the church and incorporate it as an element of the school complex expansion project. In France, however, Catholic schools apparently no longer need sacred buildings.
Source: pch24.pl
