Magnan's closing after 82 years

   Magnan's Tavern, an institution in

the Point since 1932, will close at the end of this year.
   The tavern had initially opened as a humble beer joint where laid-off Dominion Glass worker and father-of-seven Armand Magnan welcomed hard-working factory employees that were once abundant in the area. But in recent years had strayed from its simple roots, going noticeably upscale.
   Some noted that menu items were steeply priced and other pretentiousness had crept in, including the reverent texts about the tavern's long history and the renaming of a room named in honour of Marguerite Bourgeoys, as well as the creation of a little grocery store under the same brand.
   In 1957 Yves Magnant and Hubert Magnan took over and by 1976 had expanded from 60 to 250 seats.
  The tavern was described in a 1974 article as a place favoured by a lot of low-income pensioners but some anglo old time locals at the nearby Capri told me a few years back that they'd never set foot in the place again after they were told to stop singing their old Irish tunes.
  Point St. Charles resident and onetime Verdun mayoral candidate Roddy Diamond similarly complained that he was barred from the place after he made a five-minute speech bemoaning the repression of English in Quebec in March 1983. (Diamond moved on to a bar in LaSalle where he was soon after sought as an important witness in a bar killing).
  Eyebrows were raised  in 1984 when Yves Magnan, city councillor for the area who served four terms with Drapeau, supported a zoning rule that did not allow any other bars (taverns, brasseries pool rooms)  to open or expand anywhere around the joint.
   Women were only permitted inside after 1988.
  "I hate when someone tells me that they went drinking in the Point, and then they later say that they meant they had a beer at Magnan's," a friend used to tell me. He meant that the bar at Charlevoix and St. Patrick - at the gateway to the area - was a faux Point experience, a joint that sounded like an essential urban grit but was, in fact, safe from the knuckledraggers of other nearby institutions.

Roddy Diamond-barred in 83

  Gilles Proulx -a  hardcore sovereignist radio host - set up camp at the joint during the 1995 referendum - further solidifying its reputation as a place not necessarily friendly to anglos.
   The workers - they counted 80 nine years ago - were unionized and went on strike between May 10 and May 20, 2005, complete with pickets outside the place.
   The establishment suffered some additional bad publicity in September 2013 when they let go of waitress-manager Isabelle Chabot, who happened to be suffering from ovarian cancer at the time. Some vowed to boycott.
   Amateur reviewers on one tourism site have given the joint 3.5 stars out of 5, with a wide variety of assessments both positive and negative.
  In a goodbye letter (in French only) brass blame increased beef prices, high taxes and roadwork  - citing long delays in the drive from the South Shore - for the closure.
   The Point has also seen a steep decline in population since several industrial workplaces closed in the area in the 70s and beyond.