East-end demolition a shock
The unheralded demolition of a vintage brick industrial building on Notre-Dame East, part of the Lantic Sugar complex, has shocked some heritage people and irked Richard Bergeron, who has roundly criticized Transport Quebec, owner of the site. It’s part of the long-simmering plan to widen Notre-Dame into a virtual autoroute and, I’m afraid, typical of the transport ministry’s attitude to Montreal in general.
Stefan 03:07 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
is this really the will of the people, building another decarie-style highway instead of conserving the heritage of montreal and the province in order to adapt it for new purposes?
invoking ‘public security’ seems to be today’s killer argument with which the government can justify everything. i’d argue that a 6-lane highway is more deadly than a potentially crumbling building. and it could be secured with much less cost.
Bill Binns 07:59 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
I’m generally in favor of saving historic buildings but a 100 year old sugar refinery in a marginal neighborhood? It didn’t appear to be architecturaly interesting, nothing important ever happned there and even if you turned it into a museum, you will never get tourists to that part of town. The fact that it was done in a sneaky manner bothers me though. Montreal seems to have a long history of buildings being torn down at night or on weekends with little or no notice.
jeather 08:21 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
I don’t think every building needs to be kept, but let’s see: Transport Quebec owns the building, let it fall apart, then tore it down because it “couldn’t save it”. This is such a common, idiotic story. But the provincial government has never been fond of Montreal, not just the transport ministry.
Stefan 11:50 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
It may not be evident to keep and restore an insignificant building somewhere in the outskirts, but here in Vienna it is actually the cool thing to do for companies to re-adapt its interior and it works much better for old brick buildings than the new single-purpose buildings (cinemas, whatever). And because this has been done for decades, instead of razing, basically all old neighborhoods are interesting to walk around in. This is what attracts tourists, and while there are many such cities in europe, in north america montreal is one of the few with old buildings.
Kate 12:28 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
Consider how New City Gas has been preserved and has just been resurrected in Griffintown. The east-end building that’s just been demolished (not completely, but pretty seriously) is an industrial structure of a similar vintage.
Transport Quebec is, I find, particularly arrogant with Montreal. We didn’t want to extend Highway 25 to Laval, and a bridge was built anyway. We don’t want an enlarged Turcot cutting up more of the Sud-Ouest, and that’s just what we’re getting. Etc.
Ian 19:51 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
Well as they said, we’re just a city of students and immigrants, so who cares?
Chris 20:33 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
Transport Québec, its employees, and its management are decades behind in urbanism. Pity.
Frédéric 22:12 on 2012/06/13 Permalink
@Ian “a city of students and immigrants”
I think this quote best sums up all the condescendence this government has for its citizens. I’ve seen it before, but now I can’t trace it back to its source. Someone knows where it comes from, who said it and who reported it?
SMD 09:08 on 2012/06/14 Permalink
@Frédéric It is a quote by the Director of Planning for Montreal of the Ministère des Transports as reported by Plateau Mayor Luc Ferrandez : http://www.lucferrandez.com/turcot-same-old-same-old
qatzelok 09:52 on 2012/06/14 Permalink
@ Kate: “Transport Quebec is, I find, particularly arrogant with Montreal. We didn’t want to extend Highway 25 to Laval, and a bridge was built anyway. We don’t want an enlarged Turcot cutting up more of the Sud-Ouest, and that’s just what we’re getting. Etc.”
Transport Quebec is mafia central – car companies and oil companies lobbying the common good out of Quebec City politicos. The Train de l’Est is pure brown envelope – as twisted as the logic of private-public partnerships.