Quebec to protect Chinatown
Better late than never, Quebec is going to protect Chinatown from developers.
Also in Le Devoir Saturday.
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Kate
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DeWolf 11:03 on 2022-01-22 Permalink
This targets the Hillpark Capital acquisitions very specifically. Most of Chinatown won’t be touched by this.
I’d like to see some protection for the beautiful 19th century greystone commercial blocks on St-Laurent, like the one that hosted the first film screening in Canada, which burned down after a botched renovation. Most of their upper floors are vacant.
Meezly 11:16 on 2022-01-22 Permalink
Maybe more specifics will be announced on Monday, but the article states that the site of Chinatown, including two buildings, will be designated a heritage and thus, fall under the protection of it as law. At the end, it describes the borders of the site.
“Ses limites convenues sont circonscrites par la rue Jeanne-Mance, la rue Saint-Dominique, l’avenue Viger et le boulevard René-Lévesque.”
This sounds like great news.
Kate 11:28 on 2022-01-22 Permalink
DeWolf, not only that wonderful building, but also the one at the northwest corner of La Gauchetière and St‑Laurent, where the Sun Hing grocery was, but which burned down in 2007 leaving a gap like a missing tooth. Ben Soo has a photo of it here, and he also shot the better known building where the first film screening happened, here. (I still miss the Sun Hing – the family who ran it were so nice.)
It would have been better for Chinatown if those upper stories had been occupied, rather than – as my impression was, and which you can see in Ben’s photos – so often used for dead storage, drying out and becoming more tindery with the years. I am not sure why that was the tendency, but it was.
DeWolf 11:30 on 2022-01-22 Permalink
Meezly, that paragraph is just describing the official borders of Chinatown. The heritage protection only applies to the block west of St-Urbain.
At this point, I hope some level of government can begin negotiations to purchase the block from Hillpark. There’s a lot of potential to hand it over to an NGO that can manage it as a mixed-use community complex with businesses, the existing temple, affordable housing and some kind of cultural centre inside the old Wing’s factory.
The Blue House in Hong Kong would actually be a very interesting model to follow…
https://zolimacitymag.com/how-the-blue-house-is-keeping-hong-kongs-heritage-alive/