This eclectic block of Ste-Catherine at Jeanne-Mance will soon be demolished to make way for a souless mid-rise office building housing a Best Buy at street level.
Photo du jour: Au Revoir
By Chris Erb
Read more articles by Chris Erb
9 comments
Luckily, that’s not entirely true — only the five buildings closest to Bleury will be demolished. Everything from the Ardène to the Second Cup will remain.
Still, very sad!
Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering why the Dairy Queen had renovated when all the other stores were shutting down. The greatest loss of all however, is the shutting down of Spectrum.
all the same, fuck you city planners.
I escaped from toronto because i was sick of their decisions that are oh so similar to this one. Go see dundas st at yonge. it killed all things cultural and historical, and replaced it with corporate and street-internalizing bullshit development.
I have problems with the way that Dundas Square is managed but, from a design standpoint, I fail to see how it’s *not* an improvement over the dingy low-slung retail block that was there before. It works pretty well as a gathering space, at least in my experience.
In any case, I can’t get myself to be outraged over the Spectrum/Best Buy development. The Spectrum might have had a long history, but it was just a music venue — two new ones are already planned to replace it. What really gets me riled is the provincial government’s incompetence in dealing with the Balmoral block across the street from the Spectrum. It used to be filled with small businesses and artist space until everything was evicted for a symphony hall/government office plan that was ultimately scrapped. Now the buildings have been deteriorating for five years.
Similarly, the big building at Ontario and the Main, which was also filled with space for entrepreneurs and artists, was gutted by a condo developer who went bankrupt. Now it’s half-renovated, empty and useless.
Unbelievable! Does downtown really need a Best Buy AND a Future Shop?
And, while I appreciate that two new music venues are planned, I don’t think cities are built by destroying old places and replacing them. This is why places like London and New York have so much character, and living history. History isn’t just for museums.
I really don’t see the problem here – a Best Buy as well as an additional office tower would be a great addition to this section of downtown. Remember, a Best Buy as well as any potential companies setting shop in an office tower means BIG tax revenues to the city. Additionally, Rogers plans on building a 30+ storey office tower 2 blocks away and will contribute to Montreal’s new home to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, who has been without a decent venue for years.
It’s not like any of these to be destroyed buildings are worth preserving, there isn’t really any historical or architectural value to them. Office towers built nowadays usually include retail space, so I’m sure most of those stores [including the hooker-boot store] can always relocate once construction is complete. I find that stretch of Ste-Catherine to be a little sketch, so hopefully new construction can revitalize the area a little bit.
Best Buy _is_ Future Shop, so it’s even worst, oligoly at work my friends ;/
That should have read “oligopoly” sorry ;-)