Montreal’s Maison Alcan redevelopment uncertain

A controversial plan to redevelop a treasured Montreal city block has been put on hold, but the reason cited is to study real estate implications, not the heritage considerations that had been the cause of much concern since July.

It’s the second time that a municipal council decision on the multi-use project proposed by Yale Properties and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté has been postponed. The proponents aim to build a 30-storey commercial tower and other buildings with retail, office and entertainment functions on the Maison Alcan block at Sherbrooke and Stanley Streets.

The Yale Properties plan calls for the demolition of a former armoury built circa 1920 and also a seven-storey building built in 1981 as part of the original Maison Alcan project; the former Salvation Army Citadel on Drummond, built in 1906, would be integrated into the project. Lemay and associés are the architects.

For many Montrealers, the plan signifies much more than the replacement of two buildings with another much taller one.

Heritage activists say Maison Alcan represents a major planning achievement from the early ’80s, an enlightened departure from the previous decade when architectural heritage tended to be an afterthought in planning decisions, with the demolition of the Van Horne mansion in 1973 considered a low point.

Their protests this summer caught the attention of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), which issued a plea to Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre to defer the project and to Quebec Culture Minister Hélène David to hold hearings to protect the complex under the Quebec Cultural Heritage Act.

The submission by the RAIC recounted how original Maison Alcan creators Ray Affleck of Arcop Associates and David Culver, president of Alcan, "conceived a project that integrated existing buildings and contemporary construction and created an ensemble."

Architect Ewa Bieniecka, a Montreal native and RAIC board member, explained to the Daily Commercial News, "It’s one of these projects that changes local and national attitudes about buildings. It created an attitude towards integrating heritage into contemporary construction. It definitely is a legacy and it is an ensemble that is integral to the city block."

Other critics to voice their opposition are Raphaël Fischler, director of McGill University’s School of Urban Planning; Phyllis Lambert, architect and the founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture; and Heritage Montreal policy director Dinu Bumbaru.

The size and design of the tower was out of scale with the other buildings on the block and would ruin the site’s harmony, they argued.

Fischler commented on the unique qualities of Maison Alcan in a Montreal newspaper: "It integrated stores, it integrated heritage, it integrated the project in the city with fairly similar building volumes to the surroundings, it integrated the pedestrian with this very nice walkway."

Despite the uproar, the council of the borough of Ville Marie was poised to approve rezoning to permit the project but at its Sept. 9 meeting it voted to postpone a decision until Oct. 13. Montreal’s executive committee passed an amendment to the city’s urban plan on Sept. 14 to remove one hurdle for Yale Properties, clearing the path for Ville Marie’s final vote on Oct. 13.

But on Oct. 8, Saint-Jacques councillor and member of the Montreal executive committee Richard Bergeron issued a press release stating that he had asked Coderre to delay the project so that its real estate implications could be studied, and that Coderre had acquiesced.

Bergeron and Coderre had previously co-signed a letter published by the La Presse newspaper defending the plan. Bergeron’s media release said he was in no way "questioning the work of professionals or the quality of the proposed project" in asking for the delay but that vacancies that already exist in buildings on the site must be taken into consideration as the city tries to "find the right balance between heritage preservation and the risks that are associated with vacancies."

Montreal’s office vacancy rate hit a 10-year high earlier this year, at 8.6 per cent.

Andrée-Anne Toussaint, press attache for Coderre and executive committee member Bergeron, did not respond to requests for an interview but said, regarding the delay, it was of a "length to be determined."

A spokesperson for Lemay and associés said he could not comment at this time. A spokesperson for the Quebec Culture Department has indicated that the department must approve any redevelopment plan because Maison Alcan includes buildings classified as provincial heritage sites.