Another Nail in Dorchester’s Coffin

Photo Christopher Curtis
Photo Christopher Curtis
Photo Christopher Curtis

Demolition crews take down the final wall of a friary on René Lévesque Boulevard West.

The building was attached to a 116-year-old Franciscan Church that burned down in February.

Demolition crews take down the final wall of a friary on René Lévesque Boulevard West.

The building was attached to a 116-year-old Franciscan Church that burned down in February.

The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi was one of the few remaining Victorian-era buildings on René Lévesque Boulevard.

Most of the houses lining the street were destroyed in the 1960s when Dorchester Boulevard, as it was known back then, was widened.

The Franciscans deserted the church in 2007. By the time it burned down, squatters inhabited the once towering buildings.