The story began several years ago when former Mayor Tremblay, like many of his predecessors, decided to \u201dclean up\u201d the Red Light District. Unlike during Mayor Drapeau\u2019s regime, where whole blocks of the historic neighbourhood were demolished to build the suburb-like Habitations Jeanne Mance<\/a>, Tremblay made a decision to \u201crebrand\u201d the entire neighbourhood as the Disneyesque Quartier des Spectacles<\/a>. <\/em>Through a scheme of radical gentrification, it would become possible to simultaneously create a corporate Entertainment District while attacking the original \u201cRed Light\u201d culture, which ironically had made the historic neighbourhood so famous in the first place.<\/p>\n The rebranding scheme set off a wave of wholesale demolition, whereby historic theatres and performance venues, such as the Spectrum<\/a>, Le Medley, and Saints, were slated for demolition. Rising out of the ashes are questionable glossy buildings<\/a> that, architectually and vocationally, are completely disconnected<\/a>\u00a0 from the historic neighbourhood.<\/p>\n St. Laurent Boulevard is a National Historic Site<\/a>, defined\u00a0 as \u201ca group of buildings<\/strong>, structures and open spaces which share uncommonly strong associations with individuals, events or themes of national significance\u201d.\u00a0 The government\u2019s rationale behind the designation was that \u201dNational historic sites are places of profound importance to Canada. They bear witness to this nation\u2019s defining moments and illustrate its human creativity and cultural traditions. Each national historic site tells its own unique story, part of the greater story of Canada, contributing a sense of time, identity, and place to our understanding of Canada as a whole.\u201d The heritage designation suggested the fabled corridor must maintain a \u201csense of history\u201d, and to protect it insisted that \u201cintrusive elements must be minimal<\/a><\/strong>\u201c.<\/p>\n Furthermore, one of the most important reasons for protecting The Main was its connection to the theme of welcoming and immigration<\/a>: “In the collective psyche of Montr\u00e9al, Boulevard Saint-Laurent is the immigrant corridor\u2026Immigrants still see Boulevard Saint-Laurent as the place where they find fellow immigrants; their workplace and their community institutions are there. The cosmopolitan aspect of Boulevard Saint-Laurent intrigues and reassures them.\u201d<\/p>\n However, historic immigrant businesses were made to feel most unwelcome\u00a0under the Tremblay administration.<\/p>\n Ignoring the National Historic Site that cuts across the island he governed, and totally disregarding Parks Canada\u2019s protective policies<\/a>, the former Mayor authorized developer Christian Yaccarini to expropriate and demolish a block of historic 19th Century heritage buildings on the Lower Main. The deal included the\u00a0eviction of small immigrant\u00a0 businesses, including\u00a0Epicerie Importations Main,<\/em> Montreal\u2019s first Middle-Eastern grocery store (established in 1924), the Montreal Pool Room, and others.The intention was to demolish the irreplacable heritage buildings between the Monument-Nationale and Sainte Catherine Street, including the celebrated Cafe Cleopatre<\/a>, in order to build a glossy corporate office tower.<\/p>\n This flagrant disregard for Montreal\u2019s culture and heritage, by the Mayor himself no less, sparked off a cultural war of unprecedented proportions.<\/p>\n A citizen initiative was formed called the Save The Main<\/a> Coalition to try and protect the National Historic Site and the culture surrounding it. After a protracted battle that involved everything from public consultations<\/a> to legal challenges to lobbbying politicians and even pleas to heritage buff Prince Charles<\/a>, the artists and activists won and the Cafe was saved<\/a>. A citizen initiative succeeded where politicians had failed.<\/p>\n In an effort to convince the Mayor that there were better solutions to the wholesale destruction of Montreal\u2019s culture and heritage, artists from the Save the Main coalition presented an alternative Urban Plan<\/a> that would seamlessly incorporate the priceless heritage into the rebranded \u201cQuartier des Spectacles\u201d<\/em> , while staying loyal to Parks Canada\u2019s policies on commemorative integrity<\/a>. They also created a popular walking tour<\/a> of the district to highlight its fascinating history.<\/p>\n In retaliation, the Mayor permitted Yaccarini to use an unethical strategy of demolition-by-neglect<\/a> to ensure the destruction of the remaining heritage buildings, disregarding both Parks Canada\u2019s policies to protect historic sites and Montreal by-laws on building maintenance. The artists\u2019 worst fears were confirmed.<\/p>\n To mark the sad occasion, Montreal\u2019s cultural figures with the Save The Main<\/a> Coalition staged a dramatic funeral<\/a> to mourn the passing of the Lower Main, the most colourful portion of the\u00a0National Historic Site. Protesting rampant corruption, gentrification and Disneyfication, the artists raised awareness about some of the serious cultural issues affecting the metropolis, including the fact that The Main National Historic Site, a microcosm and symbol of the city, is being devastated both physically and culturally.<\/p>\n National Historic Sites are evaluated\u00a0with a system\u00a0that analyzes\u00a0Commemorative Integrity<\/a>, a term used to describe the health or wholeness of a site. As defined in the National Historic Sites Policy (of Canada), a state of commemorative integrity can be said to exist:<\/p>\n The Main is undoubtably Canada\u2019s most abused National Historic Site<\/a>. Corporations have taken over with invasive and abusive advertising practices\u00a0such as\u00a0Billboard trucks, giant advertisements, stealth marketing<\/a> ploys, \u201cstreet parties<\/a>\u201d hosted by online gambling companies, and a host of other manipulative commercial activities. Such blantant violations have led to criticism that The Main National Historic Site, far from being protected, is becoming Disneyfied at the expense of the real culture. Disneyfication is a process whereby something real is replaced by a fake, corporate imitation.<\/p>\n Disneyfication occurs when authentic culture is eliminated in order to replace it with a fake, corporate version that is somewhat akin to a shopping mall. Often called \u201cmonoculture\u201d or \u201cGenerica\u201d, the Disneyfied space proceeds to disempower artists, small businesses and citizens in order to facilitate profit-making for corporations.\u00a0Disneyfication is a rampant problem in the Quartier des Spectacles <\/em>and The Main National Historic Site.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0 as Saint Laurent Boulevard winds just up the hill into the Plateau, corporations are beginning to disfigure the National Historic Site with gaudy, ostentatious\u00a0branding. While most historic areas, like Old Montreal, are protected from excessive advertising and corporate spam that damage the commemorative integrity of a site,\u00a0Boulevard Saint Laurent\u00a0is not.\u00a0The most recent example saw a Pizza Pizza take over and\u00a0paint a section of the\u00a0The Main National Historic Site\u00a0bright orange to attract customers, undercutting local small businesses with the sort of deep discounts only a corporation can afford…<\/p>\n Given the irony of the location for Culture Montreal’s meeting, one question will be hanging over the heads of candidates on Tuesday:<\/p>\n If elected, what will you and your party do to protect The Main National Historic Site from further demolition and abuse?<\/strong><\/p>\n While there have been calls form citizens and coalitions for a special by-law to protect The Main National Historic Site for over a decade now, administrators under Union Montreal and Projet Montreal’s Plateau administration\u00a0have been adamant that the National Historic Site would receive no special attention, despite the fact irreplaceable parts have been demolished, other sections are at risk, and the entire site could lose its historic designation\u00a0if politicians\u00a0fail to protect it.<\/p>\n Make your voice heard and demand that the candidates promise to create a by-law that will protect The Main National Historic Site from further demolition and abuse!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Details of the event (in French):<\/p>\n Le mardi 1er octobre 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c0 19 h 30 <\/strong><\/p>\n Au Club Soda <\/strong><\/p>\n 1225 boul. Saint-Laurent<\/strong><\/p>\n (m\u00e9tro Saint-Laurent)<\/strong><\/p>\n Culture Montr\u00e9al sollicite un engagement concret et cons\u00e9quent des candidats \u00e0 la mairie et de leurs \u00e9quipes en vue d\u2019acc\u00e9l\u00e9rer l\u2019\u00e9dification de Montr\u00e9al comme m\u00e9tropole culturelle durable et a lanc\u00e9 \u00e0 cet effet une plateforme de 21 recommandations<\/a> \u00e0 leur intention. Nous vous invitons \u00e0 assister en grand nombre \u00e0 cette pr\u00e9sentation. Il s\u2019agit d\u2019un moment exceptionnel pour s\u2019adresser directement aux candidats \u00e0 la mairie et pour discuter de ce que renferme leur programme politique en termes de d\u00e9veloppement des arts, de la culture et du patrimoine \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9chelle de la ville et de ses quartiers.<\/p>\n C\u2019est le journaliste et animateur chevronn\u00e9, monsieur Michel D\u00e9saultels<\/strong>, qui animera cette pr\u00e9sentation et qui interrogera successivement les candidats. L\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nement aura lieu au Club Soda, 1225 boul. Saint-Laurent \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al<\/strong>.<\/p>\n![\"Destroyed](\"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Destroyed-Historic-Site-300x199.jpg\")
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\n\u00c0 l\u2019invitation de Culture Montr\u00e9al, les quatre principaux candidats \u00e0 la mairie de Montr\u00e9al, monsieur Richard Bergeron<\/strong>, monsieur Denis Coderre<\/strong>, monsieur Marcel C\u00f4t\u00e9<\/strong> et madame M\u00e9lanie Joly<\/strong> viendront livrer publiquement leur vision du d\u00e9veloppement culturel de la m\u00e9tropole le mardi 1er octobre prochain \u00e0 19h30, au Club Soda<\/strong>.<\/p>\n