MONTRÉAL :: Les Projets - Page 85

The Gibbroni · #**1681** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 3:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Stop the wrecking ball on the Main

June 5, 2012

By Phyllis Lambert and Dinu Bumbaru

Read More: http://www.montrealgazette.com/opini...785/story.html

The architectural heritage of the Main, and in particular its greystone commercial buildings, is a testament to the energy of late-19th-century Montreal.

Tremblay has bungled this from the outset. They tried to build some ghoulish office tower or condo but fortunately, Café Cléopatre refused to move. That was 3-4 years ago and there is still a half-block of crumbling buildings sitting there waiting to be renovated. Last I heard they were going to dismantle them brick by brick and incorporate them into whatever is built. If only there was a plan...

I just hope that side of the street doesn't become completely sanitized. It's the Red Light District, keep it cool (and a bit sleazy).

cjbs1 · #**1682** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 12:48 AM**

Are these buildings really Under demolition now ?

That would be a major blow to eastern downtown Montreal.

Robertpuant · #**1683** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 1:10 AM**

That stretch of town is a good place to find a prostitute and/or crack cocaine. I'm all for the preservation of the red-light but for the average tourist, it can be scary.

someone123 · #**1684** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 2:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robertpuant

That stretch of town is a good place to find a prostitute and/or crack cocaine. I'm all for the preservation of the red-light but for the average tourist, it can be scary.

That stretch of Saint-Laurent vaguely resembles the "neutral zone" between the nicer parts of Gastown in Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside. The Vancouver neighbourhood's also adjacent to Chinatown and is on the eastern margins of the downtown area.

There's a lot of commonality between how different cities develop and where the rich and poor end up.

lake of the nations · #**1685** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 2:11 PM**

Voici un vidéo du wagon démonstratif installé à la station Berri-UQÀM.

http://www.lapresse.ca/videos/actual...b3cb3a9e20a947

DizzyEdge · #**1686** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 8:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robertpuant

That stretch of town is a good place to find a prostitute and/or crack cocaine. I'm all for the preservation of the red-light but for the average tourist, it can be scary.

NEVER assume that the only way to get rid of a use is to tear down the buildings. That's lazy policy at its worst. Also, if this area is made unfriendly to prostitutes and crack dealers, they're not just going to evaporate, so where are they going to move to next? Never underestimate the danger of unintended consequences.

Also, look at it another way:

All areas of all cities have an ebb and flow over the centuries of uses, and some may be awesome, and others during downturns of an area may be unsavory. Obviously the builders of those buildings did so not to create a crack and prostitute highstreet, at one time this was an area that was desired. In time it will be again. But by tearing down these buildings now, 120 years into their existence, robs the 'high points' of the neighbourhood's life over the next 100, 500, maybe 1000 years of these historic treasures, just to get rid of a problem that has existed how long?

easy as pie · #**1687** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 9:46 PM**

it's a real shame, but the buildings are literally being demolished as i write this note. it would have been nice to have repurposed these buildings, but the simple fact is that this area of town has progressively ghetto-ized by appalling planning decisions: the expansion of réné-lévesque (then dorchester) boulevard, the construction of the freeway, the razing of the hood that became the habitations-jeanne mance, the elimination of the streetcar system, the emphasis on surface parking, the narrowing of sidewalks to expand vehicle access, the concentration of office space in what is now the "downtown", the calculated de-population of downtown. the point is that the loss of these buildings is only the latest point of despair in a very long line of poor planning decisions that successive city administrations took as they gleefully eviscerated the core of the old montreal.

it's a shame, but we're probably still a decade away from booting all the old people who run the political class and planning office and business groups, and until then, all we can really do is try to convince them to leave something for us so that when we get into decision-making positions, it won't just be a matter of burying freeways and planting trees to brighted up the brutalist superblocks.

Vaillant · #**1688** Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 11:55 PM**

selon des sources sûr, il y aurait une demande de financement en cours avec RBC pour construire la plus haute tour de Montréal dans le Griffintown!

Robertpuant · #**1689** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 12:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaillant

selon des sources sûr, il y aurait une demande de financement en cours avec RBC pour construire la plus haute tour de Montréal dans le Griffintown!

Pics or it didn't happen! Non sérieusement, ce serait génial, mais il faut être prudent avec ce genre de rumeur/nouvelle. La deception attend toujours pas loin!

yaletown_fella · #**1690** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 6:24 PM**

Still, I can't see why they can't reconstruct the facades?

DizzyEdge · #**1691** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 8:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

Still, I can't see why they can't reconstruct the facades?

Are these bad uses IN the buildings? or on the streets out front?

The Gibbroni · #**1692** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 9:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

Still, I can't see why they can't reconstruct the facades?

Apparently, they are dismantling and numbering the bricks so that they can be reconstructed later. Problem is, there is no set proposal at this time so we may be looking at a half-block gap for the foreseeable future.

The Gibbroni · #**1693** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 9:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robertpuant

That stretch of town is a good place to find a prostitute and/or crack cocaine. I'm all for the preservation of the red-light but for the average tourist, it can be scary.

But it's also home to Metropolis, Club Soda, Foufounes, SAT (best music venues in town), Monument National, TNM, Place des Arts, 2-22, Theatre Ste-Catherine... as well as strip clubs, sex shops, porn theatres, The Pool Room etc.

The seedy side of the Red Light has been around since Montréal opted out of Prohibition and it's the mix of uses and people that make it the most fun and interesting part of downtown. I'd hate to see a part of it become a sterile podium full of the usual sort of 'GFR' that would inevitably ensue ie: Starbucks, upscale restaurant, gluten-free designer knick knack gallery etc

MTLskyline · #**1694** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 10:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaillant

selon des sources sûr, il y aurait une demande de financement en cours avec RBC pour construire la plus haute tour de Montréal dans le Griffintown!

Merci pour l'exclusif!

Comme Robertpuant, j'attends des évocations avec l'impatience.

MTLskyline · #**1695** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 10:38 PM**

^I shudder to think of the businesses that would be allowed to move in. I can't help but think that it would be a repeat of what's inside every mall downtown. Soon all we'll be allowed to eat at are food court-style restaurants like Thai Express, Subway and Amir.

The only food court I can think of that has independent restaurants is the one at the dumpy Faubourg St. Catherine. Very good Thai restaurant there, as well as a great Taco counter. (although I would avoid the place that claims to sell smoked meat...)

The Gibbroni · #**1696** Posted **Jun 10, 2012, 10:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

^I shudder to think of the businesses that would be allowed to move in. I can't help but think that it would be a repeat of what's inside every mall downtown. Soon all we'll be allowed to eat at are food court-style restaurants like Thai Express, Subway and Amir.

The only food court I can think of that has independent restaurants is the one at the dumpy Faubourg St. Catherine. Very good Thai restaurant there, as well as a great Taco counter. (although I would avoid the place that claims to sell smoked meat...)

I don't care what they put in a food court because at the end of day, it's still a f*cking food court!