Despite resistance from various quarters, Hydro‑Quebec has definitely chosen the Grande Bibliothèque site for the new substation it needs to build within 500 m of the existing substation nearby up the hill on Berri.
Updates from February, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
A customer is suing Première Moisson because, when he used their toilet, it broke and injured him.
(I admit, my first reaction was “what, you can use the bathroom in a Première Moisson?”)
Andrew
Just to raise awareness, if you see any hairline crack in a toilet bowl you should not ever sit on it and it needs to be replaced. For the reason of exactly what happened to this guy, it can be lethal.
Ian
When you gotta go you gotta go, but what a way to go.
dhomas
@Andrew is 100% correct. Any type of crack in toilet porcelain calls for immediate replacement. A Google search for “cracked toilet injuries” will return some pretty graphic images. I don’t suggest you actually perform the Google search (or do, I’m not your mom).
This reminds me of a story. A tenant of mine once asked me if he could replace his toilet, at his cost, as he didn’t like the one that was there (it was old but fully functional) and he wanted to look good for his new girlfriend. I told him that was fine but that I would provide an approved plumber. Well, he went ahead and replaced it before my plumber could come, using his own “plumber”. I went to go inspect the work afterwards and found the newly installed toilet had a very small, but still noticeable, crack in it! I asked the tenant if he noticed it and he said that he had but the “plumber” said it was just cosmetic and he’d be fine. I immediately replaced the toilet that very day, at my tenant’s great annoyance. I don’t think he realized that I was potentially saving his and his kids’ lives, quite literally.
jeather
Today I learned!
Kate
Me too. I had no idea, although I do know that toilets can just crack sometimes. Awhile back, water started pouring down into my apartment through the kitchen and bathroom ceilings. Turned out the toilet on the third floor had spontaneously cracked – no one was home. Landlord had to redo the ceiling plaster.
JP
@Dhomas @Andrew, are we talking a hairline crack in any part of the toilet (seat, lid, back part, inside the bowl)? This has kind of unlocked a new fear…
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Kate
Weekend notes from CultMTL, CityCrunch, La Presse.
CultMTL also has a new restaurant guide up – this is a web page linked to the PDF of the current issue.
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Kate
Snow removal campaign will start on Friday evening.
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Kate
The Quebec Liberals have denied Denis Coderre’s candidacy to lead their party.
Ian
Haha /Nelson
I’m sure he’s shocked and confused just like when he didn’t win mayor. Get the message, already.
Orr
We’ll always have those magnificent granite stumps to remember him by.
Taylor 19:16 on 2025-02-07 Permalink
ELI5
Why can’t they build a new substation atop the old one?
That is a primo piece of greenspace in an area that needs all the breathing room it can get.
Nicholas 23:08 on 2025-02-07 Permalink
Taylor, it is really hard to build extra floors on a building in situ (unless it was designed to be expandable). The piles and walls and so on are not designed to take tons of extra weight. Unless some architects and engineers have some solution, it would mean tearing down the current building, which would mean no power for much of that part of downtown for years, something that’s not happening.
And there are so many little parks and green spaces around that area that I’ve not once decided to sit in that park, especially given it’s right across from the bus and police station on a loud, busy road. Maybe a dozen within 250 m.
dhomas 07:30 on 2025-02-08 Permalink
What will happen to the old substation? When the project is complete, can they tear it down and turn THAT lot into green space?
In an ideal world where cost were no obstacle, I would love to see the new substation temporarily built on the Grande Bibliothèque lot, the old substation torn down, then the temporary substation moved back to its original location. One can dream!
Kate 11:27 on 2025-02-08 Permalink
dhomas, I don’t think that would be a favourable spot for a pocket park. That steep little hill between Ontario and Sherbrooke has never been a strolling street and it would be a challenge to landscape. Don’t know what they could do with that lurking chunk of brutalism either if they wanted to save it.
DeWolf 13:23 on 2025-02-08 Permalink
I have my doubts Hydro-Québec is going to deliver a substation that is a worthwhile addition to the area, but let me play the devil’s advocate here…
Considering there is a sculpture park next door and Berri Square just down the street, what exactly is the benefit of this green space? It’s a patch of empty grass. Aside from one or two people tanning themselves in the sun, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone actually use it.