denpanosekai

All this talk is amazing and exciting. Even yesterday I was watching the Habs from the Phoenix stream and the hosts couldn't help themselves but gossip about the Expos' return whenever they showed Youppi...

The Gazette: Léa Guilbeault’s death spurred building code changes

MONTREAL — More than four years after a Montreal woman was crushed by a slab of concrete that fell from the facade of a downtown hotel, construction workers have removed all the concrete panels from the Marriott Residence Inn as part of a multimillion-dollar hotel renovation.

 

As concrete slabs were lowered onto a flatbed truck on Peel St. last week, the memory of Léa Guilbeault’s death in 2009 still resonated with some downtown office workers.

 

“One of those pieces fell on that woman,” an officer worker reminded her friend as they walked past the crane that was removing the panels.

 

Guilbeault and her husband, Hani Beitinjaneh, were seated at a corner table in a restaurant patio when a large concrete slab fell 18 storeys off the facade of the hotel, crashing through the glass roof. Guilbeault, 33, was killed and her husband was seriously injured.

 

Guilbeault’s death became emblematic of Montreal’s crumbling infrastructure and led to calls for more stringent building maintenance guidelines that would require owners to have their facades inspected more often.

 

In March, Quebec’s Régie du bâtiment announced long-awaited changes to the province’s building safety code designed to prevent future fatalities from crumbling buildings and multi-leval garages.

 

The new rules require property owners to inspect their buildings and facades every five years.

 

Owners of buildings that are five storeys or higher will have to get an architect or an engineer to inspect their facades for things such as rust stains or cracks. Inspections will have to be completed between 2015 and 2018, depending on the age of the building. The changes will affect about 3,650 buildings in the province.

 

Owners of multi-level parking garages also must get the garages inspected once every five years. Inspections will have to be completed between 2014 and 2016, depending on the age of the building.

 

The new security measures for garages were brought in after a concrete slab fell on the roof of a car in a St-Laurent parking garage in 2008, killing Mahamat Saleh Khazali.

 

The changes follow the recommendations of Quebec coroner Jacques Ramsay, who criticized Quebec’s lax building maintenance rules in his 2010 report on Guilbeault’s death.

 

The previous rules said owners were responsible for maintaining their buildings, but didn’t spell out how that should be done.

 

Under the new law, copies of the inspections must be kept in a file on the property and be available for consultation by building inspectors, city officials, the fire department and engineers or architects who may want to consult previous inspections, said Sylvain Lamothe, a spokesperson for the Régie de bâtiment.

 

Building owners who repeatedly refuse to have their buildings inspected can be fined or taken to court, but Lamothe said that is a last resort.

 

“We are not there to strong arm them,” he said. “We are there to help make sure they respect the new law.”

 

The new rules are being enforced across the province by 44 inspectors, Lamothe said.

 

The Marriott Residence Inn, which is a tenant in the Peel St. building where Guilbeault was killed, announced in October it is undergoing a major renovation that includes replacing the facade.

 

Sonia Grenier, the hotel’s director of operations, said the decision to replace the facade had nothing to do with the accident that killed Guilbeault.

 

“We have new owners,” she said, adding she couldn’t answer any other questions.

 

Anyone who is worried about the safety of a building can call the Régie du bâtiment at 1-800-361-0761.

Looks decent!

This would have been insane!!! Wow!! Thanks for sharing.

With Arrondissement 21, Victoire, St-M phase 2 (and 3?) this is gonna be a pretty lively place in 3-4 years!

1F: commercial

2F: office space

3F: residential

hoping for a bit of a facelift otherwise very pleased this is moving forward.

also the art deco neighbor (old police station) got a new tenant, don't know who yet. just says LOUE.

Montréal aurait resemblé à une ville de l'Europe de l'est...Très soviétique comme look.

Actually this reminds me of Chicago's mag mile.

Franktko I think you're off. This starts on Ste-Catherine.

Now that's a sight for sore eyes.

I was hoping for Eddie Bauer, they have damn good shirts.

The Roccabella sales office is located elsewhere. I believe what you see there is only an information desk.

Higher up on Montagne at Sherbrooke.

December 12th 2013

WOW je viens de lire ca ... Ça fait rêver ! Je n'avais jamais penser au site Rene-Levesque/Atwater pour un stade... ca ne serait pas une mauvaise idée

Over the Children's??? I can see it, but man what a tight fit. You'd have to gobble up Tupper, Cabot Square, the Pentecostal Church and probably tear down some (centennial) residences on Lambert/Hope/Sussex. The forum could be gutted and converted into a parking tower. I'm hoping the Bonaventure site comes up on top but I wouldn't stand in the way of a Shaughnessy baseball-driven revival!

Anyway this report is amazing.

Right, except that would be "next door", not "behind". Also FYI TD Insurance haven't been there for years, and the sign may be replaced in 2014.

UrbMtl please check your private messages.

BTW here's what the Notre-Dame building looked like in 1924. Respect your elders!

Look at the lead message!

Wow, the shame!!! I guess I'm used to most top messages being outdated on this forum. Thanks for the literal "heads up"

Sorry if this was answered before, but what's the $/sqft on these projects on average? I kinda like how this is coming along. Is going to the sales office the only way to get pricing?

NAY NAY NAY!

Agreed. I hope the other guys were just joking. Do something with the Univers lot first, or the vacant lot at Notre-Dame and St-Henri just across.

[sTREETVIEW]https://maps.google.ca/maps?ll=45.50017,-73.560079&spn=0.003798,0.008256&hq=cce&hnear=Montreal,+Quebec&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=45.50017,-73.560079&panoid=eVL3pgfyPY9cK_NXfZUowg&cbp=12,110.01,,0,-2.28[/sTREETVIEW]

December 11th 2013

À Manhattan, ils poussent même le concept de mixité dans le même édifice! Et puis, les gens des loyers modiques ont chiâlé quand le promoteur a voulu faire deux entrés distinctes: une pour les condos dispendieux et l'autre pour les loyers modiques... Faudrait bien que je retrouve ce projet

You're thinking of the "Poor Door".

les promoteurs peuvent donner l'équivalent en argent dans un fonds.

Seville did this IIRC. Probably varies by area too.

> change the stupid name. "Tom" really?

Tower of Montreal? Not that bad.

Vanishing Montreal article

PDF: ÉNONCÉ D’INTÉRÊT PATRIMONIAL (April 2012)

PDF: AVIS DE DEMOLITION (April 2013)

Le projet proposé consiste à démolir l’église Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix et son presbytère en vue d’y construire un nouvel immeuble de six étages en forme de « L » implanté le long de Strathmore et face au boulevard Lasalle. L’édifice comprendra un centre de la petite enfance (CPE) et une ressource intermédiaire (RI) pour personnes âgées nécessitant des services de soutien et d'assistance.

 

Une grande cour sera aménagée au bénéfice des usagers (CPE et RI) sur la rue Gertrude, à l’intérieur du « L ». Il est proposé de privatiser le terrain situé à l’avant de la propriété et qui fait partie du domaine public, incluant la portion de la rue Ethel correspondante. Dans le traitement de cet espace triangulaire, un débarcadère en « L » remplacerait le segment de la rue Ethel et une partie de l’aménagement paysager actuel. L’entrée pour la RI se ferait de ce côté, celle de la garderie se ferait par la rue Strathmore et le stationnement souterrain serait accessible par la ruelle depuis la rue Gertrude.

 

Une chapelle ouverte au public est planifiée au rez-de-chaussée, dans la partie sud-est de l’immeuble (à l’intersection du boulevard LaSalle et de la rue Strathmore). Le promoteur propose de récupérer quelques éléments existants (pierres, portes et bancs de l’église, etc.) et d’aménager un jardin le long de la rue Strathmore pour commémorer l’histoire du site.

Not ashamed to admit that I like shopping at Winners once in a while, they have good work pants and cheap underwear Nearby ETS students will definitely appreciate their selection.

Still, Winners seems a bit inappropriate for this project. It's a weird fit, but I welcome it nonetheless. Interesting commercial offer from devimco.

Sésame c'est une chaîne? Il y en a un qui a ouvert il y a quelques mois dans le Quartier des Spectacles. Je ne l'ai pas encore essayé.

The one in Old Montreal (on st-james) is decent at best, good for large groups. The one at Atwater has bad comments and yeah there's a new one diagonally across from PDA. Guess this will be the fourth location.

December 10th 2013, Renovation complete.

December 10th 2013