Fate of the islands is under discussion

The fate of the Hélène-de-Champlain restaurant is under discussion as the future of the islands is hammered out. Valérie Plante calls the building a “joyau architectural” but it only dates to 1930. It’s not deeply historical.

The catch is that millions of dollars have been poured into it over the last ten years so the city isn’t willing to let it go, even if this is a sunk cost fallacy. Nobody mentions the option of simply demolishing the thing and returning the footprint (and its extensive parking lot) to green space – something that’s in shrinking supply on the island. There’s absolutely no need to have a big restaurant verging on a convention centre in the middle of a park.