{"id":4106,"date":"2009-09-19T16:23:08","date_gmt":"2009-09-19T21:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=4106"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:44:59","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:44:59","slug":"executive-committee-oks-main-makeover-despite-ocpm-recommendation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/09\/19\/executive-committee-oks-main-makeover-despite-ocpm-recommendation\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive Committee OKs Main Makeover Despite OCPM Recommendation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photograph<\/a><\/p>\n

St Lawrence and Ste Catherine street, 1905. Source: Mccord Museum.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We have to move forward,” said Catherine S\u00e9vigny, the executive committee member responsible for culture, about\u00a0the committee’s decision to give the Quadrilat\u00e8re Saint-Laurent<\/em> the green light last Thursday (La Presse<\/a>). “This is the end of what some call ‘immobility’ on these projects.”<\/p>\n

Yet it was only last month that\u00a0the Office de consultation publique de Montr\u00e9al<\/em> called for this\u00a0developper to “slow down”<\/a>on this project.\u00a0 The OCPM report sent the developer back to the drawing board to\u00a0rethink project’s treatment of a National historic site and the relevance of the building’s proposed usage – mostly office space –\u00a0within\u00a0the performing arts district.<\/p>\n

In the world of real-estate sales and concrete-pouring,\u00a0a public consultation process\u00a0may indeed seem like inaction.\u00a0 But it is meant to ensure that our city’s\u00a0rules regarding urban planning and\u00a0heritage\u00a0preservation are only\u00a0bent\u00a0when the outcome is seen as positive and relevant\u00a0by those who will be touched by the development.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the executive committee’s decision\u00a0only re-inforces the perception that public consultation does nothing but uselessly\u00a0stall development. What is the point of a lengthy consultation process if the recommendations are going to be ignored once again?<\/p>\n

“Je suis surprise de voir le projet adopt\u00e9 par le comit\u00e9 ex\u00e9cutif alors qu’aucun nouveau plan ou proposition architecturale n’ont \u00e9t\u00e9 resoumis,”<\/em> said Phyllis Lambert, fonder\u00a0of the\u00a0Canadian Centre for Architecture.<\/p>\n

Lambert joined forces with\u00a0Culture Montr\u00e9al, H\u00e9ritage Montr\u00e9al, Club Soda, and Le Monument-National to criticize the city’s dismissiveness\u00a0towards their own democratic consultation process in a press release yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city claims<\/a> that the development agreement signed with the SDA responds to some of the\u00a0concerns\u00a0raised during the public consultation.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0Boul\u00a0Saint-Laurent, the Quadrilat\u00e8re’s architecture must be modified to preserve the volume as well as the facades\u00a0of the historic buildings. Commercial activities on two stories should animate the Main into the evening (although it seems there will still be no place for\u00a0night-life\u00a0and no show-spaces to replace the 4\u00a0venues\u00a0will be lost).<\/p>\n

The city and the promoter have also promised to work together in restoring desolate Clark street. They will favour the establishment of “emerging” businesses and social economy\u00a0along Clark.\u00a0(But does that mean chain stores\u00a0for the bulk of the Quadrilat\u00e8re?).<\/p>\n

Despite the changes that must be drawn into the plans to meet the city’s conditions, the city reiterated that the project will be completed in 3 years, a timeline that the OCPM has called hasty and unrealistic.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The city’s press release also confirms that existing businesses that have been established\u00a0for decades within this heritage site could be expropriated if they refuse to accept the SDA’s offers.<\/p>\n

\"Behind<\/a><\/p>\n

Image: Clark street, which has long been\u00a0the “butt-end” of Saint-Laurent’s businesses,\u00a0is to\u00a0receive badly-needed attention from the city and the developer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many comments on this blog have noted that the\u00a0Lower Main is sorely in\u00a0need of\u00a0investment and the photo\u00a0above certainly\u00a0highlights the point. Yet after decades of neglect,\u00a0why rush to\u00a0embrace\u00a0the first half-baked proposition that comes to the table? With the crystallization of the Quartier des Spectacles<\/em> and plenty of new arts-oriented development\u00a0already changing the character of the neighbourhood, new life is on the way in.\u00a0The executive committee has also approved the SDA’s \u00c9difice Le Parall\u00e8le<\/em>, a cultural centre which will be built\u00a0atop\u00a0the Saint-Laurent metro exit.<\/p>\n

Is the Quadrilat\u00e8re<\/em> really the only chance we’ll get for\u00a0this legendary strip of the Main?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Lawrence and Ste Catherine street, 1905. Source: Mccord Museum. “We have to move forward,” said Catherine S\u00e9vigny, the executive committee member responsible for culture, about\u00a0the committee’s decision to give the Quadrilat\u00e8re Saint-Laurent the green light last Thursday (La Presse). “This is the end of what some call ‘immobility’ on these projects.” Yet it wasContinue reading “Executive Committee OKs Main Makeover Despite OCPM Recommendation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5022,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7829,7839,7842],"tags":[1189,4323,621,4322,9,48,2119,1450,4324,265,439,159,2091,112,96,45,74],"class_list":["post-4106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-civic-engagement","category-neighbourhoods","category-urban-design","tag-canadian-centre-for-architecture","tag-catherine-sevigny","tag-club-soda","tag-crystallization","tag-development","tag-downtown","tag-executive","tag-heritage-site","tag-historic-site","tag-la-presse","tag-mccord-museum","tag-office-de-consultation-publique-de-montreal","tag-phyllis-lambert","tag-public-consultation-consultation-publique","tag-quartier-des-spectacles","tag-revitalisation","tag-the-main"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nExecutive Committee OKs Main Makeover Despite OCPM Recommendation - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/09\/19\/executive-committee-oks-main-makeover-despite-ocpm-recommendation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Executive Committee OKs Main Makeover Despite OCPM Recommendation - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St Lawrence and Ste Catherine street, 1905. Source: Mccord Museum. “We have to move forward,” said Catherine S\u00e9vigny, the executive committee member responsible for culture, about\u00a0the committee’s decision to give the Quadrilat\u00e8re Saint-Laurent the green light last Thursday (La Presse). “This is the end of what some call ‘immobility’ on these projects.” Yet it wasContinue reading "Executive Committee OKs Main Makeover Despite OCPM Recommendation"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/09\/19\/executive-committee-oks-main-makeover-despite-ocpm-recommendation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-19T21:23:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T16:44:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mccord-museum.qc.ca\/ObjView\/MP-1978.207.1.22.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alanah Heffez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alanah Heffez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/09\/19\/executive-committee-oks-main-makeover-despite-ocpm-recommendation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/09\/19\/executive-committee-oks-main-makeover-despite-ocpm-recommendation\/\",\"name\":\"Executive Committee OKs Main Makeover Despite OCPM Recommendation - 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