Le Wilson lofts - Montréal

Le Wilson lofts building on the corner of Saint-Alexandre and De La Gauchetiere streets in Downtown Montreal looks completed (above). The three photos below show the building during its renovation in the spring of 2011. I love these kinds of buildings and I'm glad it was "saved" and the added floors sorta blend it with the old architecture. Pretty cool project with 90% according to the website (link). It's built just next to the Southam Building, another beautiful stand-out building which was also turned into lofts.

Lowney condos - Griffintown

The Lowney condo project, phase number ?, is still ongoing in Griffintown. I love the old style red brick buildings but the new stuff is depressing. The brick work on the new building is terrible. Standing there, with the sun shining on the sides, I could already see misaligned brickwork which created shadows when good smooth brickwork shouldn't. Even if it's not finished the architecture already looks outdated. As the third photo shows it looks more like cabins on a Cruise ship than condominiums. With just a narrow street standing between the walls of the condo buildings, new and old, the space was very "echoey". If someone talks on one of them balconies everyone will be able to hear it. There's no privacy whatsoever. Might as well live in the avenues in Verdun

A parking lot and a Transcontinental building made way for these. I already posted about the initial start of the construction last year. Link. I've included 3 panoramic shots of different stages of the construction.

Before & After - Clinique de L'Ouest - Verdun

 

(image above: google streetview)

The old Clinique de L'Ouest building on Verdun street in Verdun was quickly demolished last year only to be replaced by a new building that looks almost exactly like the old one this year. Ok. This was one of the quickest demolitions I've ever witnessed (link). The vacant lot (last photo) stayed emptied for a while before this new building, which looks like a combo of condos and business, started taking shape. I think the whole thing is funny.

Before & After - Le Village

(image: google streetview)

On de Maisonneuve, between Wolfe and Montcalm. I don't know what kind of building was at that  location before. The new building is the blandest thing I've ever seen, even more bland than any Samcon thingy.

Two apartment buildings demolished - Le Village

Two apartment buildings on the corner of Wolfe and Robin in Le Village were demolished for a new condo project called the Wolfe. At least 5 apartments were lost for this demolition.

The next three images are from Google Streetview

Facade on Peel & Wellington - More photos - Griffintown

I already uploaded a video about all what's left of the building on the corner of Peel & Wellington in Griffintown is its facade. Here are photos of the facade. The last three photos show its demolition. Montreal is turning into a facade city.

COIN/CORNER Peel & Wellington - Griffintown

I uploaded this short video of the demolition on the corner of Peel & Wellington. Only a facade remains.

 Les travaux sur le coin de Peel et Wellington. Juste une facade.

Former Garda building on St-Jacques - Saint-Henri

part of the changing face of Saint-Henri

This gorgeous building on St-Jacques, between Bourget and Rose De Lima, will be converted into condos called LA MACHINERIE. Garda's offices were situated there for a couple of decades. On the top floor there used to be a halfway house for aboriginal criminals called Waseskun House, which previous to this location was situated in Pointe-Saint-Charles at this abandoned building.  Back in 1997, I worked at Waseskun House for 2 months as a security guard. I used to give walks to inmates all over Montréal. The photo below shows the back court. Part of the old red brick building with the chimney is this abandoned building on Rose de Lima, which was supposed to have been demolished years ago.

THE GAZETTE has an article about the sector and the former Garda building is featured in the article (see next post below).

Gazette article on Sud-Ouest

THE GAZETTE has an article about heritage buildings/sites in danger because of the current condo boom! It's good that they're talking about this now but it's a bit too little too late.   Link

Old film made in Montréal circa 1967

Here's a compilation of clips taken from a German/Italian film called KOMMISSAR X - DREI BLAUE PANTHER filmed in Montréal. I've tried to include all the exterior scenes in this.

I took a couple of screenshots from the film for those who don't want to watch the clips. You can see the old Laurentian Hotel (below; this scene is not included in the video) and the film takes place at La Ronde and Expo 67.

Update: Horse Palace + Ottawa construction - Griffintown

Just a few snapshots of the Horse Palace + triplex in Griffintown on Ottawa street seeminly surrounded by construction from all sides. There's a bin in the yard but I was told the bin is for the construction site on De La Montagne and Ottawa. The construction started late spring of last year and they've only reached ground level almost a year later. Hmm...

The triplex and horse palace were recently purchased by a condo developer who promised they'll preserve something of it but Phillis Lambert went before city hall to complain about its fate (and a few other endangered spots in Montreal) and how many places are being recklessly demolished.

The new condo is completed (on the corner of Murray and Ottawa) and sorta blends with the older triplex that's just next to the horse palace.

Notes & Stuff

- Stats: the majority of visitors only look at the first page. At least 90% of visitors do not go beyond the main page even though there's 3 years worth of stuff here.

To make things simpler, all posts are listed on the left hand side, with the top ten most viewed listed there as well. Just look at that to make browsing the blog easier.

- The majority of people who send comments are former Montrealers living outside of Montreal, in Toronto or Vancouver or another province, or the US or Europe. Hmm…yes, Montrealers have posted but the ratio is much greater with former Montrealers.

- Because the majority of visitors do not go beyond the main page, I'll be adding new permanent pages. I created two new permanent pages: VANISHING GRIFFINTOWN and SMALL HOUSES. I'll add more permanent pages in the future, probably about specific neighborhoods to make it simpler. Permanent pages are listed just below the banner.

- Limitations and locations: it's physically impossible for one person like me to cover the entire island of Montreal. I concentrate in Downtown, Old Montreal, HOMA, Village, Griffintown, Pointe St-Charles, Little Burgundy, Verdun, Cote Saint Paul, Ville Emard, Lasalle with posts in Westmount, Cote des Neiges, Saint Michel, Rosemont, etc. There are some areas that I'll probably never cover myself because they are too far from where I live (Ahuntsic is a good example). If some want to send photos my way of those areas, I'll give full credit and post them here. Denis Heraud and others have contributed to the blog.

- Suggestions are always welcome. The one problem with suggestions is that they're often about places I've already posted about (see reason number 1 for that). Before sending out a suggestion, just double check the blog to see if I covered it. There's a search option in the top left.

- I'm currently working on 70+ locations (new locations, updates, topics, etc) with literally dozens added per week. Some are more important than others and they take priority. There's so much stuff going on at the present that I'll try posting more often than before. The problem with posting lotsa stuff several times a week is that it doesn't give visitors the chance to see those posts on the main page as they're being bumped off of it (again see reason number 1).