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| Mollie King |
Also on the menu was the silent film The Secret of the Storm Country, as well as Fatty Arbuckle in Coney Island, as well as six vaudeville acts, including George Rosener doing his dope fiend and Civil War veteran bits. Also featured were Pepperino and Perry's accordion and violin act, Hohson and Beatty, two attractive girls doing opera and dance act Six Stylish Steppers
The next month the Loews got a visit from a 98-pound girl named Resista who used 400 pounds of weight resistance to defy any man who tried to pick her up.
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| Rita Jolivet |
Loews got movies with sound in 1927 and was renovated in 1949 and converted to a five-cinema multiplex in 1975.
It's last-ever movie show was likely Sunshine with Ralph Fiennes, who showed up for the screening as part of the Montreal Jewish Film Festival in December 1999.
City councillor Gerry Weiner said that year that the Loews building would be demolished "over my dead body." and sought to have it turned into a concert hall or some other such thing.
Club Med World took it over for two years and in 2004 it was tranformed into the Mansfield Club gym, a gym that also closed.
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| Upcoming condo project |
The new project comes complete with a rooftop pool, golf simulator, fitness center, teleworking and conference rooms, comercial space on ground floor and a wine bar.
The building will come with a 100 meters of outdoor heated sidewalks connecting it to nearby Dominion Square from Cathcart and Mansfield.
The 248 units will range in price from $350,000 to $1.5 million and will be ready for occupation in 2024. It's unusual to have condos on St. Catherine Street but indoor parking will be accessible at Cathcart in the back.
Downtown condo towers might lack the historical appeal of a landmark theatre but they benefit the city by bringing in hefty municipal tax revenues and bringing commerce to centrally-located businesses.
Alas there might be a decreased demand for condos as the city center has apparently become less desireable, as witnessed by Montreal's recent loss of 2.5% of its residents, while an unknown number more of Montreal have left the province or country since the Quebec government enacted draconian restrictions two years ago.
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| Loews popcorn stand 1960s |
Curious as to where the 2.5 loss rate comes from, the 2021 census data was release last week and downtown Montreal had the highest growth rate in the metropolitan region, 24.2 per cent. It’s the second highest downtown growth rate in the country.
ReplyDeleteClearly, there seems to be no end to "condo-mania" in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know how many people can afford to move into these monstrous condos, what their occupations are, and how many are sold to overseas non-residents which can obviously be problematic if the condo developer or parent company cannot be reached easily. Such absentee management enables them to brush off and ignore buyers' queries and complaints which has become a growing problem."
Sorry but, "email us at..." doesn't cut it.
Clearly, there seems to be no end to "condo-mania" in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know how many people can afford to move into these monstrous condos, what their occupations are, and how many are sold to overseas non-residents which can obviously be problematic if the condo developer or parent company cannot be reached easily. Such absentee management enables them to brush off and ignore buyers' queries and complaints which has become a growing problem."
Sorry but, "email us at..." doesn't cut it.
I see that criticism often but I don't get it. Firstly it makes no difference to me if the owner or absent or not, indeed a very large percentage of owners don't occupy their properties, not sure why it matters if they're in the country or not. The percentage of foreign purchasers has been overblown, it's actually a pretty small number from what I recall reading last year anyway. Condos are great for densifying an area and that really helps out the nearby economy.
DeleteI am disgusted, how was this beautiful piece of our history NOT protected from these real estate vampires???? I adored that theatre. I have so many wonderful memories. I was in awe of her sheer beauty and class. Shame on the city of Montreal, my neighbourhood, shame on Mayor Plante who has done everything in her power to destroy our beautiful downtown!!! What's next?? The Rialto??? The Corona??? The Monument Nationale???? What about the Ritz, shall we blow that up too??? I endured the endless construction converting the several top floors into over priced modern crap condos. This is ENOUGH!!!! All we have now are stupid, ugly modern condo buildings on every corner of downtown. Who in the hell is buying these ugly units??? Probably foreign investors...just what we need, more empty boxes littering our skyline!! Morons have let our historical gems get destroyed and permitting more and more boring, modern unappealing, poorly crafted crap condos getting thrown up upon the tragic graves of our historic structures, our own history, the very culture and beauty that set Montreal apart, denying future generations to enjoy them. I'm gutted, just like that gorgeous theatre.
DeleteRecent CJAD talk show hosts and their callers have opined that the Quebec Government prefers wealthy, French nationals and French-speaking Belgians to emigrate here to gobble up these burgeoning condos. Otherwise, the Haitians and French-speaking African immigrants can drive taxis and Uber since THEY won't be moving into condos anytime soon.
DeleteQuebec's ongoing, shameless xenophobia, anti-Anglo bills, and blatant hostile indifference toward Anglo education facilities and other institutions are deliberately geared for one purpose only: to generate a state of anger and resentment thereby encouraging as many Anglos as well as other non-French-speaking immigrants to leave the province--which they will continue to do.
One does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that keeping the population of "the enemy" as low and thereby as controllable as possible prevents them from becoming the larger "threat" they would otherwise become. Imagine, for example, if there were a half dozen or more well-established, self-assured "Westmounts" on the island of Montreal and elsewhere in the province. They would not be so easily bullied.
The majority of these truculent CAC and PQ hypocrites took advantage of the opportunity to go to English CEGEPS and colleges themselves as well as sending their own kids there, yet damned if they want the rest of the taxpaying "French peasantry" to do so. Do as I say, not as I do.
It's a wonder civil disobedience and even a violent backlash has not occurred. We ARE too polite.
It is long overdue that the federal government needs to give the Quebec nationalists a good kick in the teeth, even daring them to hold a referendum IMMEDIATELY--not in five years time or whatever ploy they keep pulling--whereby the silent majority of the population must choose to either embrace TRUE democracy or separate into an "Algeria of North America" that, indeed, most of the rest of Canada today considers a thorn in its side and would rather see go.
Damned if the U.S.A. would want to absorb Quebec as its 51st state as the troublesome, non-English-speaking, political burden it would inevitably become. Sure, the U.S. would gladly take over Quebec's Hydro power and water sources but undoubtedly relegate French into the quaint patois that lingers in the backwoods and bayous of Louisiana.
It has nothing to do with anti-Anglo Quebec is a majority of French speakers since the day 1 it use to be Nouvelle France! Too long French Canadian and this not just in Quebec couldn't work other position than farmer or factory worker and English at the time in position of power were saying they were not intelligent! So now the role have shift in Quebec the language is French and work is in French! Go study the history of Canada where it all started! You live in Quebec then you speak French not happy there are others provinces for you! And Quebec better stop taking people from Haiti they are in majority bringing crimes with them but Africans are good worker in general and here the color have nothing to do! And we also need to stop having people with some crazy religions that are still thinking like 2000 years ago because they dont have any value in common with the people that build this country included English Canadian and French Canadians! All the ones that came from many countries did very well here but some is a NO!
DeleteI know that Montreal used to have very low rents…now, they have skyrocketed….I plan to move back to Montreal…I hope I can afford it….😬
ReplyDeleteYou will need to get out of Montreal to have a lower rental! Soon with the REM even if you dont have a car it will be easy to travel!
DeleteOh yeah, just what Montreal needs, more condos. I saw a lot of movies at the Loews and it was a majestic movie theatre. It was a special occasion to go there. Now, we have whatever that unimaginative glass-and-metal construction which will only be accessible to the richest of yuppies or trust fund babies to live there. Great urban planning, city of Montreal.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, when it reopened as a multiplex, there was an open house. No movies, but we could wander around for free. Maybe that was the renovated Palace. I'm suddenly thinking the Loews was turned into onoy two screens.
ReplyDeleteThe memory is mingled with when Nickelodian premiered, entry for the special showing was five cents in the mid-seventies.
The majority of these classy old movie theaters were closed in the early 1980s, reportedly due to the emerging, widespread popularity of home video rentals. At least, that was the excuse provided.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I still believe that many of those theatres should have stayed open for business. The vintage Rialto and the Outremont still exist, although with limited, specialized features.
Maybe the REAL reason for the closures was due to upgraded fire regulations or other physical limitations that the old classic venues were unable or unwilling to adapt to. Only the owners know for sure.
How many are old enough to remember when regular television broadcasting arrived in the early 1950s where theatre owners became fearful that "no one will want to go to see movies anymore"? That never happened.
For one thing, television networks were not able to access for broadcast a great majority of theatre-released films for several years due to contractual agreements.
IMDb.com often includes a list of when certain theatre-released films first appeared on television for the first time--sometimes in package deals. I remember the 1965 James Bond film "Goldfinger" took five years before before it showed up on regular network television stations, this being long before cable and pay TV became available to the public.
Film release contracts can be stringent. For example, the popular 1982 movie "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" took eight years before it showed up for VHS rental and purchase. Of course, such a long wait would not occur today.
In the end, people still need to leave the house just to escape the four walls for a little variety now and then. Dinner and a movie.
I must admit, however, that I don't go the theatre as much as I used to, and for various reasons. The poor quality and bad reviews of recent films being one. The, of couerse, the price of admission has risen enormously. Furthermore, I never liked sitting in crowded rows with people munching, crunching, and chattering behind me during evening showings, which is why I prefer matinees with their fewer attendees. Nice way to kill time on a rainy afternoon.
Today, of course, we have the ubiquitous cell-phone addicts who evidently cannot sit still for a single moment without compulsively checking their phones ad nauseam again and again--the sudden bright screen light popping up beside me VERY annoying and distracting, not to mention INCONSIDERATE.
Listen up, people: either watch the damn movie or check your phone OUTSIDE! If you can't do that--STAY HOME and watch Netflix, YouTube, or whatever.
My rant for today.