denpanosekai

Lots of action on site today, despite being a holiday.

A second crane is going up, this one's yellow and already at half-height of the first one. Closer to Beaver-Hall / Viger intersection.

My building doesn't have a 13th floor and I find that quite charming. I think it's a cool tradition.

Mind-blowing. I can see my balcony on four of these...

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2012/08/21/des-trottoirs-de-granit-seront-bientot-installes

Mais le chef de la deuxième opposition à l’Hôtel de Ville, Richard Bergeron, voit dans la mise en place de ces trottoirs une aberration puisqu’on ignore quels types de bâtiments seront construits dans le cadre de la revitalisation et que les trottoirs de granit qui seront bientôt installés pourraient être détruits selon lui dans quelques mois.

 

« Chaque nouveau projet qu’il y aura à cet endroit aura ses exigences spécifiques, alors il faudra tout défaire. C’est du gaspillage. »

 

Le conseiller François Robillard a minimisé les craintes de M. Bergeron en affirmant qu’aucun projet de développement n’est viable pour l’instant.

 

Pourtant, le Fonds de solidarité FTQ et la société Canderel doivent bientôt entamer la construction d’une tour de 26 étages.

Now that I think about it, we do get very strong winds on the Plaza Ville-Marie (whatever it's called)

Here's what the south side looked like just last December

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1253McGillCollege.jog.jpg

Why did that side look so different? I would have thought being on Cathcart shielded it from strong winds / rains.

Domino's Pizza is gone! There's a notice from the city in the window.

Hunchback of Square-Victoria

Crap. As much as I look forward to more people living in the area, this project will be my personal hell for the next couple of years...

You see, my office is located in the "TD Assurances" building (BTW they moved out a while ago, they just paid for sign privileges for a long time)

Not sure I should mention the floor, but I'm sitting by the wall to the run-down building/facade, which doubles as a very noisy pigeon sanctuary in the summer.

Considering how much I hear the birds, and with the Saint-M and Tour Viger construction sites already loud enough as it is, I'll probably have to pull out the earplugs for this one

PS there were a bunch of Nettoyage Apres Sinistre vans in front of Domino's Pizza today. Related?

Dangerous?!

 

I've walked by there (literally) thousands of times, at all hours of the day (2am, 5am, 4pm, 9pm, you name it).

Doesn't feel dangerous at all.

Are YOU being serious? I am speaking from experience, but take a look at those links.

(quick google search: from serious to sorta-hilarious)

http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/story.html?id=681f1cba-0c8a-47e1-9986-4ea7b0e41c35

http://www.globalmontreal.com/cops+refused+help+assault+victim+says/4103287/story.html

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/two-men-suffer-knife-wounds-in-downtown-knife-attack-1.764081

http://www.openfile.ca/montreal/suggested/dangerous-mcdonald%E2%80%99s-corner-mackay-and-ste-catherine

http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/900/

http://www.rave.ca/en/community_thread/38334/page1/

This happened to me last year, when twelve of these kids jumped us at around 10PM on a hot Friday night. I basically couldn't do a thing because they were all underaged and I didn't feel like going to jail. I was lucky and got out with a bruised ego and lots of spit to my face. Since then we usually come back home via Sherbrooke or Maisonneuve.

Don't get me wrong, I know it's not Montreal's biggest problem at the moment. It's a problem nonetheless and the worst thing to do about it is to turn a blind eye. There is a street gang problem at that intersection, plain and simple.

Too bad this corner is such a street gang magnet... maybe this new building'll help somewhat? They normally hang out in front. One of the few remaining "dangerous" places over here. I think this new building might be student residences.

Sort of related, from J de M: Spectrum mort, mais pas enterré

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2012/08/02/spectrum-mort-mais-pas-enterre

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/19/world/canada-montreal-olympic-legacy/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Montreal, Canada (CNN) -- Montreal's Olympic Stadium is known as the "Big O," but for many of the city's taxpayers it is really the "Big Owe."

 

"It took us 30 years to pay it off and as a taxpayer I'm not too happy about it," said one Montreal resident, echoing the anger that many here still feel about the way the games were funded in 1976.

 

"It was not very well managed as a financial project. And we have a fabulous stadium, but I think it cost more than all the covered stadia in North America put together, " said Dick Pound, former International Olympic Committee vice-president and a prominent resident of the Canadian city.

 

However, Pound said calling the Montreal games of 1976 "the bankrupt Olympics" is a bad rap, and pointed out that the games actually made money. He said they paved the way for a new financial structure and the introduction of lucrative new television rights deals.

 

People still come up to him and remember how well the Montreal games were staged and, in the end, how exciting they were, he added.

"They were pretty magic. All Olympics are magic but we had Comaneci with her first '10' and we had the Spinks brothers and we had Sugar Ray Leonard," he said.

Olympic games transformed Barcelona Olympic athletes arriving in London From Tunisia uprising to London Olympics

"I mean we had some magnificent heroes of the modern Olympics."

 

But there is weariness in Montreal about being known for staging the Olympic games that almost bankrupted a city. The city's mayor at the time, Jean Drapeau, famously remarked that if the games end up having a deficit, men will have babies.

And it was in large part due to the Olympic Stadium construction that the statement seems so ridiculous now. The Olympic debt was nearly US$1.48 billion, and the stadium itself has been an engineering nightmare -- the retractable roof has struggled to worked properly over the years and almost forced the closure of the entire arena last year amid safety concerns.

 

But the city's current government insists Montreal has put that legacy behind it and the Olympic stadium is now a key attraction.

"Now it is paid, and it's profitable for Montreal to keep it," said Manon Barbe, the councillor in charge of sports and leisure for the city.

Barbe pointed out that the legacy of the games has created a sporting city that nurtures hundreds of elite athletes.

 

"Today Montreal has more than 1,000 elite athletics and more than 100 coaches. And if it's that high, it's not a coincidence. It is because we decided to keep most of our sporting facilities," said Barbe.

One of those facilities is the Claude Robillard Sporting Center, an impressive training facility for more than a dozen sports that nurtures athletes of all ages. During the 76' games, the center hosted handball and water polo and was a training center for athletics, swimming and field hockey.

 

Today, hundreds of aspiring athletes receive access to coaching and equipment, much of it subsidized by the city of Montreal.

On most days you will find former Canadian Olympian Hank Palmer here on the track, either indoors or outdoors, or training in the pool or weights room.

"If I didn't have this center, I probably wouldn't be at the peak I am, I would not have the career I've been able to have," said the sprinter, who competed at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

"This center really helped me develop myself, not only as a track athlete but an athlete in general because I have so many other sports around me.

"I can cross-train, do basketball, soccer, weight training, anything."

Video: Une descente dans les entrailles du CHUM

http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/regional/montreal/archives/2012/07/20120719-195752.html

Can someone explain the part about the Turcot interchange? Did they dump everything they extracted around the site, and will somehow use this stuff to "rebuild" Turcot?

Surprisingly, I haven't spotted cockroaches in quite some time. Maybe none since early June. Is it because of the heat / summer season? Repairs to the St-Mathieu exit? Actual exterminators coming in and doing their job?

Not sure how I feel about those mega-roofs. They'll draw the homeless folks, smokers and random douchebags for sure. Can't wait for the St-Mathieu entrance to re-open, sick of entering the metro through Concordia.

Pleased with the sidewalks and bike path though. 'bout time.

I've lived around Shaughnessy for some time and I really hope this project sparks up the area. Clean up Cabot Square, get rid of that gas station and do something with the old Omer Dessere!

Le Chateau is building an underground parking. 3 floors i think. Apparently they never had indoor parking before.

Confirmed as parking lot.

My brother's in charge of the reinforced concrete design for this project!

They've been preparing the crane in Le Chateau's backyard since at least last year. I'm thinking it has to do with renovations. Have you guys ever noticed how often they clean up Port Royal? Perhaps Chateau got some complaints and needed to catch up. Or perhaps I'm completely wrong and this is an entirely new project.

Some nice footage.

http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/regional/montreal/archives/2012/06/20120619-202002.html

Don't worry change is coming this summer.

Care to elaborate? Could they expand through the back?

That's not where I was told Adonis would open downtown. Last I heard, they were looking at eastern Old Montreal (Silhouette salesperson).

Anyway there's already PA, Provigo and Metro for this area. I'm certainly not against Adonis or Metro opening at Seville, don't get me wrong. Those neverending P.A. lineups are getting annoying.

Updated w/ horrible cellphone pictures to show the banner. In the future I'll try to use a real camera.

Update 2: The catwalk is being taken down as we speak. Pictures to come unless someone beats me to it.