Quartier des Spectacles
| Quartier des Spectacles | |
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| — Neighbourhood — | |
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 Quartier des Spectacles
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| Coordinates: 45°30′37″N 73°33′50″W / 45.510278°N 73.563889°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Borough | Ville-Marie |
Quartier des Spectacles is an entertainment district located in the eastern section of Downtown Montreal, designed as a centre for Montreal's cultural events and festivals.
With a total area of almost a square kilometre, its boundaries are City Councillors Street, Berri Street, Sherbrooke Street and René Lévesque Boulevard, encompassing all of the district known as Montreal's Latin Quarter.
First proposed in 2002, the area is intended to home to 30 performance halls totalling almost 28,000 seats, including the Place des Arts cultural complex, as well as international festivals, art galleries and centres for the exhibition and broadcast of alternative culture. The Quartier des spectacles hosts nearly 8,500 jobs linked to cultural activities, from education and creation to production, exhibition and broadcasting.
The area is now home to many of Montreal's major festivals, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Francofolies and the Just for Laughs comedy fest. Urban design features of the district include concert spaces, tiered greenspace and stonework, illuminated fountains, new lighting, mist machines, bike paths and illuminated walkways.[1]
The central public space for the Quartier is the Place des festivals, a new urban square located on the "Balmoral Block" on Jeanne Mance Street, facing Place des Arts, which has become a focal point for outdoor events. Features of the square include a water fountain with 235 in-ground jets, four light towers, two glass-encased restaurants, a grassy slope and granite walkways.[1]
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New facilities [edit]
- 2-22 Sainte-Catherine Est, a cultural centre and ticket office at the corner of Saint Catherine Street and Saint Laurent Boulevard, designed by French architect Paul Andreu.[2]
- Théâtre Telus, a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) theatre, formerly the Berri Cinema.[3]
- An expansion to the Society for Arts and Technology.
- A new cultural space over the Saint-Laurent metro station, housing LADMMI, Les Ateliers de danse moderne de Montréal.[4]
- A new lighting plan by Axel Morgenthaler.[5]
- Maison du festival de Jazz, occupying the former Blumenthal Building.
- Maison du développement durable, adjacent to the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, only the second in building Canada to obtain the sustainable building certification LEED Platinum.
- Louis Bohème, a 28-storey condo tower, approved by the city despite objections from Montreal International Jazz Festival president Alain Simard.[6]
- Montreal Symphony House, a new concert hall for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Pre-existing facilities [edit]
Cultural facilities already in the area include:
- Place des Arts
- Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
- Grande Bibliothèque
- Cinémathèque québécoise
- Théâtre Saint-Denis
- Salles du Gesù, Montreal's oldest theatre
- Théâtre du Nouveau Monde
- Monument-National, home to the National Theatre School of Canada
- Club Soda
Demolished features [edit]
The area lost a key arts venue with the demolition of the Montreal Spectrum.[7] Sixty-seven mature crabapple trees were cut down in a small square, Place Albert-Duquesne.[8]
Montreal's former red light district on Saint-Laurent Boulevard is being demolished, with the facades of six buildings dismantled for possible future reuse, in a move condemned by advocacy group Heritage Montreal.[1]
Costs [edit]
In 2008, Mayor Gérald Tremblay stated that the project would come in as budgeted at $120-million, and spur development in the immediate neighbourhood, with a projected $1.9 billion in private investment.[9]
In June 2012, it was reported by the Montreal Gazette that the cost of the district's public spaces alone would be $147 million, with $67 million from the city of Montreal and $40 million each from provincial and federal governments. In 2011, Montreal’s auditor-general criticized the city for hand-picking one non-profit corporation, Angus Development, to build the 2-22 building and redevelop the Saint-Laurent Blvd., and for failing to open the process up to tender, losing money by selling city land at below market value. Inadequate underbeds, damage and wrong choice of joint sealers in 2011 also led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in repaving costs.[1]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d Heinrich, Jeff (June 02, 2012). "Quartier des Spectacles: Designed for one and all". Montreal Gazette (Montreal). Retrieved June 08, 2012.
- ^ "Montreal entertainment district building to go up without federal help," CBC News
- ^ "Théâtre TELUS - the new cultural destination in Montreal" (Press release). Canada News Wire. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ DeWolf, Christopher (2008-01-27). "Cultural space to be built on Saint-Laurent metro". Spacing Montreal. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ DeWolf, Christopher (2008-01-07). "Axel Morgenthaler on the Quartier des spectacles". Spacing Montreal. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ Lamey, Mary (2007-09-28). "Condos called catalyst for change in the Quartier des spectacles". Montreal Gazette (Canwest). Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ^ Magder, Jason (2008-03-18). "Spectrum demolition approved". Montreal Gazette (Canwest). Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ DeWolf, Christopher (2009-04-12). "City chops down 67 crabapple trees". Spacing Montreal. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ "'Quartier des spectacles' will be ready for showtime". CBC.ca. 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Quartier des Spectacles |
- "Official Web site, Quartier des spectacles". Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- "Restaurants Guide Quartier des spectacles". Retrieved 2013-01-11.
- Harvie, Ronald T. (March 2006). "Montréal's Creative Core" (PDF). MONTRÉAL BEHIND THE SCENES. Tourisme Montréal. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
Coordinates: 45°30′37″N 73°33′50″W / 45.51028°N 73.56389°W
