15 vintage photos of the Recreatheque - Laval's teenage heaven now facing wrecking ball

    Montreal's teenage heaven on earth opened in Laval in 1968 and provided endless joy for coming-of-age youths until it faltered and went abandoned.
   The sprawling 210,000 square foot structure is finally facing the wrecking ball, as the Recreatheque has recently been purchased for $6.8 million for the purposes of demolition and replacement with residential units.
   Bowling alleys, billiards, indoor tennis, mini-putt golf, a fitness gym, bar and restaurant and most notably roller skating were on offer at the Recreatheque when it opened 14 Sept. 1968.
  It was the stuff of dreams.

  The place was created by Sammy Gewurz and his brother Werner, who purchased and remodeled the old Mon Mart failed megastore on Cure Labelle just north of Notre Dame.
   The family's Proment company had made a ton of loot developing Nun's Island and no expense or extravagance was spared, including two small theatres, and even an indoor ski hill was promised.
  But it was the roller skating rink, with its psychedelic decor, that was the main attraction and created memories for the ages.
  Roller skating rinks have been popular in Montreal since 1880 and other notable facilities include the original Montreal Forum which was built as a roller rink, a spot in Delormier baseball stadium as well as big barn on Guy below Dorch, and another just east of University near the bottom. (loads more details in my book Montreal 375 Tales).

A woman on Facebook recalled how she broke her nose running into the oversized speaker as a young girl

   But this place was every kid's dream come true as every sort of thrill was offered to shatter the boredom of suburban living in Chomedey Laval.
    If your school trip brought you to the Recreatheque you might circle that date on your calendar, as you there were be no better day during that school year.
   The drab, humdrum life of rules and obedience and math lessons and snide remarks from bullies was all forgotten as your feet magically rolled to the rhythm and melody pumped out by speakers as old friends and new friends rolled alongside you, all laughing and smiling.
    It doesn't get much better than that in life, folks.

    Gewurz told Coolopolis in a phone interview last year that putting so many different attractions in one facility turned out to be too much of a good thing, as he soon noticed that tennis players didn't take much to sharing a facility with roller skating kids and bowling and billiards also didn't dovetail.
   A series of closures, re-openings, closures, and finally its abandonment led it to be deemed an urban eyesore that Laval political candidates all vowed to resolve, as it had become seen as a firetrap and magnet for vandals.
   But how about this for a plan?
   A couple of years ago a similar proposal to demolish and redevelop just didn't happen, so perhaps the facility isn't doomed after all.
   It this latest initiative fails, the building could be saved and rehabilitated and put back into joyous use with money from some philanthropic organization aimed at youth or even some level of government could pitch in, as the facility provides recreational services commonly offered by municipalities.
 

 

Bands performed at the Recreatheque including this punky-pop outfit in 1978
It is said Hall and Oates rocked the Recreatheque as well, but this has yet to be confirmed 

The sprawling structure on Cure Labelle near Notre Dame initially housed the Mont Mart store, from 1963

Movie star Jayne Mansfield is seen adding her star power to the grand opening of the Mon Mart
store (later home of the Recreatheque) on 31 Aug 1962.
It was her second visit to Montreal. She died 5 years later.