Former Catholic school next to St. Peter's Basilica being torn down this week

Construction crews began demolishing the former St. Peter's School building on Clarence Street in downtown London Monday after years of fighting for city approval.

The old building sits behind St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica, facing the west side of Victoria Park.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of London originally planned to take it down in 2023, but the process was complicated by the fact that it's located in a heritage district.

"It wasn't a straightforward demo," Andrew Jardine, the diocese's chief financial officer, said. "There was a lot to think about, a lot to prepare, and we're grateful for the help and the cooperation of the city to make sure that we did this properly."

Built in 1959, the building was used as a school until the diocese took it over from the Catholic school board in the early 2000s.

While the property has now fallen into disrepair, it had previously been used as office space for the diocese and a parish centre, and space had also been rented out to commercial tenants over the years.

On Monday, the crew began by removing the cornerstones from the building, which will be kept in storage, and setting up a perimeter around the property. There was some hope of finding a time capsule in one of the stones, but after pulling them from the walls, they found nothing inside.

"History is really important to us in the diocese, our story is really important," Jardine said, "We were hoping to see that, but unfortunately not this time."

It just didn't make sense to continue to maintain the building, Jardine explained, noting that costly repairs like a new roof were needed. Combined with the lack of functionality it offered the parish, the investment did not make sense, the diocese decided.

"We will invest money when it's really a mission-focused decision, that's going to continue to help us to grow," he added. "This particular facility wasn't gonna be used for that sake, so it didn't make any sense to invest in that."

The dioceses isn't saying what, if anything, will be built on the site. But Jardine said future plans will focus on benefiting parishioners.

"We don't intend to have this long term as a parking lot either, because I think there's a lot of value for the city and for the diocese to be able to look at what some other possibilities and potential options can be."

The full demolition is expected to begin on Wednesday, and will take around four to six weeks to complete.