Coolopolis has learned that the City of Montreal plans to sell the magnificent Snowdon Theatre, a unique art deco building with massive heritage value.
Flex Art, the busy gymnastics facility located in the building for many years, is worried about its future. It doubts that it can find another spot in the area with adequate space for gymnastics.
Gymnastics, not unlike hockey, requires government subsidies to survive, and without considerable help and cooperate from the city, the entire gym could disappear.The gymnastics club currently uses a floor built near the level of the original balcony, so their practices and competitions take place under an incredible set of well-preserved and colourful bas reliefs that bring history alive.
The theatre opened in 1936, closed in 1982 and was repurposed for retail in 1990 after Rafid Louis and Emile Fattal rebuilt the 25,000 square foot interior, a job that took three years and $2.5 million to complete.
The City of Montreal took it over during the Bourque administration. They now say that the building needs repairs and borough representative Michel Therrien told me that it needs some repairs and isn't considered a fit as a municipal property.
Hopefully the city will come to its senses and do something to ensure that this historical treasure gets saved and that its community of young gymnasts gets to stay.
I love that theatre. I went on my first date there. I hope the kids get to stay. Stan
ReplyDeleteNot sure if the public is actually allowed entry to watch any gymnastic competitions.
ReplyDeleteWho remembers the huge tile montage on the outside wall showing a British busby-hatted soldier banging a bass drum, with the logo "Better Shows" beneath?
I wonder if it was removed or painted over?
My heart and sympathies go out to anyone who would dare buy that building and to anyone who invests their money with someone who tells them this is a wise investment.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the unfortunately long history of delays getting the old Empress/Cinema V theatre rehabilitated, it's a wonder ANY such venue is seriously considered for investment.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased, however, that the beautiful Rialto on Park Avenue has survived.
In 1964 there was a guy in my class at West Hill High named Paul St. Pierre. He was a good looking dude that the ladies all liked and a lot more mature than most of his classmates including me.
ReplyDeletePaul had a job away from school as the assistant manager of the Snowden Theatre.
He remember him taking me on a tour of the basement of the theatre and being surprised at how massive the area was. Ut felt like the tombs.
I saw Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier that night. The movie was made in 1939 and I don't know why they were showing it 25 years later. I think I used the movie for a school book report.
Back in the day it seemed like some theatres would run the same movie night after night, month after month.
I think How The West Was Won in Cinerama was one of them.
I wonder if the Jewish ladies are still drinking Diet Tab with a a lemon wedge next door at the Miss Snowden or has that restaurant disappeared too?
You know, we've lost so many "heritage" buildings already, and what do we do? Build new ones on top of them.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, isn't that basic humanity? Build, tear down, build anew. There will likely come a day even St.Joseph's Oratory and the Sun Life buildings will be reduced to dust and something new takes their place. Somehow I doubt that the builders of the Snowdon hired Albert Speer to design it, planning on a thousand year lifespan. Ashes to ashes and all that. It's the great circle of life, Littlefoot.
And in this particular case, I never liked the Snowdon anyways. It was always kinda uninviting, like most deco: Cold, almost as if the architects resentfully allowed human occupancy. Oh those untidy meat-bags!
And the movies I saw there were always dreary, even back in the fifties when going to the movies was a very special thing for a Montreal kid. It's actually a fairly nondescript building nestled amongst others. That block isn't exactly prime real estate these days, the space, even big as it is, would probably just go to waste as a mini-park. But maybe it could be re-purposed to restore a bit of classic Decarie enterprise: Turn it into a used car lot.
To Colin Patterson:
ReplyDeleteMiss Snowdon is long, long gone. It became Pumpernik's some time in the late sixties, moved to Cavendish mall, then finally closed in (I think) the late eighties.
Snowdon Deli is still there, though.
Since I lived nearby, I used to see first-run films at the Snowdon frequently.
ReplyDeleteAmong others, I watched The T.A.M.I. Show", which featured that unforgettably frenetic performance by James Brown, and "I Am Curious Yellow", one of the very first foreign skin-flicks allowed to be screened in the province.
Another memory of the Snowdon: during one particular intermission, I happened to notice in the lobby crowd one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen--one of those high-calibre ladies like Annie deMelt, whom you can't take your eyes off of; who can manage to look good 24/7 no matter what.
I can't imagine them destroying this gem. The gym makes good use of this space while saving it for future generations. The ceiling is very well preserved and is so unique. It would cost a fortune to build somthing like that today.
ReplyDelete