Vanishing Griffintown

Before / After : building on Wellington ; Avant / Après : bâtiment sur Wellington

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The evolution of Griffintown ; L'évolution de Griffintown

2010
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2014
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Photo du jour 6-11-2014

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Panoramic view of the 'new' Griffintown from Wellington bridge. Posted at Montréal Panoramique.

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Vue panoramique du «nouveau» Griffintown vue à partir du pont Wellington. Voir Montréal Panoramique.

Before / After : Vanishing house on William ; Avant / Après : maison disparue sur William

In the span of a couple of months, an old house on William street in Griffintown vanished.
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En l'espace de quelques mois, une vieille maison de la rue William dans Griffintown a disparue.

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Before / After : corner Peel / Wellington ; Avant / Après : coin Peel / Wellington

Previous articles - Article précédents : 09-2011 - 05-2012


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Photo du jour 17-10-2014

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Wiggle stereoscopic image of Murray street, in Griffintown, taken at night years before the massive condo constructions. Two 35mm photos scanned directly from their negatives. I love the look of the images. It almost looks 3D. I uploaded one photo of the two photos at Flickr and the depth of field in it is stunning.

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Une image auto-stéréoscopie de la rue Murray, dans Griffintown, prise durant la nuit, plusieurs années avant l'explosion des constructions de condos. Deux 35mm photos numérisées directement à partir de leurs négatifs. J'aime le look des images. On dirait presque 3D. J'ai téléchargé une des deux photos sur Flickr et l'effet profondeur de champ est étonnante.


Photo du jour 7-8-2014

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Apartments for rent, in a new Griffintown project....not condos for sale.

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Des appartements à louer d'un nouveau immeuble dans Griffintown...pas de condos à vendre.

Photo du jour 2-7-2014

Flickr

Impressive construction site on Murray street in Griffintown, situated directly next to the old Horse Palace. I talked to a fellow there who told me they were starting construction of a three storey below ground-level parking garage for the condo/apartment building project. They were digging directly under the houses which made it one of the most impressive construction sites I've seen. I'll write more about it once the project is completed.

More impressive photos at Flickr : here, here, here, here

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Chantier de construction assez impressionnant sur la rue Murray dans Griffintown, directement à coté de l'ancien Horse Palace. J'ai parlé à un constructeur là qui m'a dit qu'ils ont commencé la construction d'un garage sous-terrain a trois étages pour ce project de condos / appartements. Ils creusaient directement en dessous des maisons; l'un des chantiers de construction les plus impressionnants que j'ai jamais vu. Je vais écrire plus sur ce projet une fois il sera terminé.

Plus de photos sur Flickr : ici, ici, ici, ici



Photo du jour 19-6-2014

Horses are back on Ottawa street in Griffintown where the Horse Palace used to be.

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Les chevaux sont de retour sur la rue Ottawa dans Griffintown où l'Horse Palace était.

From Peel looking towards Wellington

William and Richmond condo project

Nothing much to say as these photos say everything. It's on the corner of William and Richmond in Griffintown. Next to it is a big piece of land which is perfect for any new construction project (assuming the land was part of the Samcon deal). The sidewalks in that area are really bad. Posted about this last year in June: Boarded-up building.

Condo project on William and Des Seigneurs

The "Le William" condo project is on its way to being completed. The construction was supposed to take place at different times with different phases but everything seems to be built all at once. At least they preserved the beautiful red brick building. I already posted about this project last year. See here.

I included a photo I took of the construction site and the massive hole they dug just to give you an idea. I'll do a Before and After once it's completed.

On the corner of William and St-Martin

On St-Martin street where Le William condo project is being built. On the other side of the street there's yet another condo project that will replace this plant.


Buildings gone on Des Seigneurs and William

The structures on the corner of Des Seigneurs and William were completely demolished for yet another massive condominium project. The first 4 photos were taken in April 2012. The 2 following photos (with snow) were taken in March of this year. And the 6 last original photos were taken in May 2013. This project is moving fast once it got started. I included two Google streetview screenshots to show the view from the bridge.

I loved the red brick building just next to the bridge crossing the Lachine canal. In my opinion, it was so iconic of the area and the general old industrial look of the city of Montreal.

March 2013

MAY 2013

Google streetview

The view of the area coming in from the bridge.

Horse Palace is no more

The stable and the small house behind the triplex on Ottawa are gone. It was there just a few weeks prior, as the bottom photo shows but since that photo was taken and posted here they demolished the Horse Palace.

Building on Murray st.

A building for a business on Murray st in Griffintown was painted over in yellow to advertise about the new condo project that's going to replace it.

(image above: Google streetview)

Peel & Ottawa

The two top photos were taken last November and shows all the buildings/structures being demolished for new condo projects while the other photos were taken a couple of weeks before. The Corlab building was reportedly sold last year.

Before & After: Horse Palace

As construction continues around the Horse Palace in Griffintown, here's a Before & After. Ridiculous!

Demolished warehouse on Shannon & Ottawa

This wareshouse on the corner of Shannon and Ottawa in Griffintown was demolished a week or so ago. It was demolished for the endless Lowney projects going on in that part of Griffintown. Probably one of the ugliest structures in Montreal, few will miss it but I thought its windowless quasi-minimalist, elongated appearance was noteworthy because it was a weird building. I believe they stored stuff for Omer DeSerres there.

Before & After

(image above: google streetview)

Before & After of storage building on Ottawa and Shannon in Griffintown. One of the few not slated to be demolished.

The New Emerging Griffintown

I took the above image from a billboard showing how Griffintown will look like once all the condo projects will be completed. As the photos below show, the new Griffintown is emerging all around. The artist rendition of the new Griffintown is interesting. Notice how all the cluster of new 20-storeys tall buildings do not fit-in with the surrounding area. The whole thing looks odd.

The deep construction pit for the new building on the corner of Peel and Wellington with the old facade.

This new building is on the corner of De La Montagne and Ottawa. It stands next to the Horse Palace. On the left, the building where there used to be a garage and the galerie d'art Hovig is still standing.

Galerie d'art Hovig

The inside of the galerie d'art Hovig on Rioux street in Griffintown. The galerie closed as the building is set to be demolished for new condo project. The demolition/construction is currently going on as of this writing and the last time I was there, the building housing the galerie was still standing, as you can see in the fourth photo. The building is on the right.

Démolition : Griffintown

6 addresses....it doesn't get more clear than this...

Corner of Wellington & De La Montagne

All the buildings on the corner of Wellington and De La Montagne will be demolished for new building project. My source says that it includes the grey brick building (top photo), the depanneur and its building, the businesses and apartments in the building with the yellow siding and the small house as well. That small house? No way! I love it.

Boarded-up building on William and Richmond

This small building on the corner of Richmond and William streets in Griffintown is now boarded up, for possible demolition? Most likely. I took the two last photos from the area last summer knowing that it might soon disappear. The wide piece of land next to it, which was also used as a parking space, makes this a hot property for new condos. The sidewalks in that area are in really bad shape.

Corner Wellington & Peel

I already uploaded a video about all what's left of the building on the corner of Peel & Wellington in Griffintown is its facade. Here are photos of the facade. The last three photos show its demolition. Montreal is turning into a facade city.

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I uploaded this short video of the demolition on the corner of Peel & Wellington. Only a facade remains.

 Les travaux sur le coin de Peel et Wellington. Juste une facade.

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Update: Horse Palace + Ottawa construction

Just a few snapshots of the Horse Palace + triplex in Griffintown on Ottawa street seeminly surrounded by construction from all sides. There's a bin in the yard but I was told the bin is for the construction site on De La Montagne and Ottawa. The construction started late spring of last year and they've only reached ground level almost a year later. Hmm...

The triplex and horse palace were recently purchased by a condo developer who promised they'll preserve something of it but Phillis Lambert went before city hall to complain about its fate (and a few other endangered spots in Montreal) and how many places are being recklessly demolished.

The new condo is completed (on the corner of Murray and Ottawa) and sorta blends with the older triplex that's just next to the horse palace.
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Le William

Major condo project on William between St-Martin and Des Seigneurs in Griffintown. This is a big project with two individual buildings on the single site built around the existing old factory. The old factory will be part if phase One with a bigger addition integrated next to it on Des Seigneurs and phase Two will be situated on the St-Martin street side. There will be a spacious inner courtyard between the buildings. Previously, part of the land was mostly parking space but two structures (storage?) were demolished in the process.

(image: google streetview)

The two structures that were demolished formely on William and St-Martin 

(image: google streetview)

A panoramic shot of the construction site from Des Seigneurs

(image: google streetview)

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The new ETS building in Griffintown on William street. Top photo was taken last spring. The 2 photos below were taken today. You can use the old style street lamp as reference point in the two first photos.

It looks like a fight between David and Goliath...I guess Goliath is winning this time

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The chimney was shorten with the word DOW removed/cut, with only BREWERY remaining. The brick color also changed in the adjoining building. They also added a couple of floors in the structure just next to the chimney: in the before photo the roof reached up to the last letter E but now the roof goes all the way to the first R in brewery. And part of the building just below the chimney was demolished and removed, including the chute and the tree growing on it. The After is cleaner and with more windows but I prefer the Before. Much more character.

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New banner on this empty building on the corner of Peel and Ottawa st. shows what Phase 3 is  supposed to look like. Begins on April 18, 2012. I might just be there...

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The commercial bus depot on Wellington st in Griffintown is now history, as the two top photos show. Most people won't miss it but I liked that corner. It sorta was a nowhere land of sorts where only cars, going or leaving downtown, drove by it.

2 summers ago, before the entire brouhaha about the impending changes that would take place in the neighborhood, I waited for the 107 bus there for what seemed to be an eternity. The day was hot and humid. Previously, I had spent several hours taking photos of the area and my feet needed a rest. Standing there, where few people stood, cars coming and going, with the overgrown weed and grass jutting out of cracks on the sidewalks and scorching pavement, I remember thinking that this moment won't happen again. Even with the traffic going by, it was a very peaceful and quiet moment, just near downtown Montreal.

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The gritty building on the corner of Peel and Wellington in Griffintown is already gutted, with only  its facade remaining. A 20-storey building will be built there. They're not wasting any time. Already mentioned here September 2011.

Also, as seen in the picture below, facing the gutted building, the District Griffin sales office has moved from its Peel location (link) to Wellington st.

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As already mentioned before at VM back in July 2011 here and October 2011 here  demolition of the wide building next to St-Ann park in Griffintown has begun. The third photo shows when it started and the top two photos were taken two weeks ago. The two last photos were taken last summer.

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This 19th-century triplex and the adjoining stables, called the Horse Palace, on Ottawa street in Griffintown were recently in the news because it's up for sale and its future is uncertain. The asking price for the triplex and yard/stables is $1 million, which almost seals its fate unless someone who's wealthy and loves Montreal history buys it and keeps it as it is.

As the 5th photo shows, it's been for sale since this summer when I took those photos so why it's making news now is a bit odd. Most likely because the owners are retiring to Nun's Island.  This section is the soul of Griffintown and if they demolish it they might as well demolish everything else in that district. As noted in the SCRAPPED text below "The Horse Palace has been a continuously functioning stable for 150 years."

I've been taking photos of this area for the past 6 or 7 years now and have TONS of photos of this specific house. I even took pictures at night with my 35mm camera (above and below), which are some of my favorite photos in my portfolio.

I've already reported on this and re-posting the photos with horses/ponies, which were taken in 2010.

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Before

I've already wrote about this construction project (here) but forgot I had these old before photos. This is the business that was on the corner of Ottawa and De La Montagne. Once the project is completed I'll post an entire Before & After.

Previous post about this corner - link

Before - During demolition

After - taken this past summer

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Before - fall 2010



Before and after on the corner of Murray and Ottawa in Griffintown. I have so many photos, I forgot these before ones. I'll post a complete before and after once I return to Griffintown and see the completed project.

Here's my previous post about this - link

After - summer 2011





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Construction of the new ETS dorm in Griffintown. The top two photos were taken at the beginning of last summer and the two last in mid-summer.

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I'm pausing my coverage of THE CHANGING FACE OF SAINT-HENRI for this post with breaking info over in Griffintown. Needless to say, Griffintown will be a pale shadow of itself in a year or so...

First info - Asbestos in walls

As mentioned here at VM, the facades of the building on the corner of Peel and Wellington will be merged into a new 20 storey condo complex. Here's a photo of the banner advertising the new over-the-top project. They got approval from the city with the sole condition of merging the old facades with the new structure. Now my source tells me that the facades might eventually be demolished anyway because the walls contain asbestos. Hmm...

Haven't we heard of this many times before? Builders get approval on constructing on some heritage structure or special site with some conditions but then the old building is not safe so they'll have to demolish it anyway.


Second info - Accidents happen

This beautiful building in Griffintown is considered a heritage building and is supposed to be spared from demolition when they'll build the St Ann condo complex where the one level red brick building behind it now stands. Well, according to my source, the owner of the shop was told, to the person's face, that "you never know an accident might happen, that a wall from the building could be accidentally demolished or something during construction and that a fine would only be $500 and they would eventually have to demolish the entire building afterwards." Interpret it is at you wish...


Third info - Moving garage

The bus garage on Wellington near the bridge was supposed to stay operational for a couple of years at this location while constructions are going on all around it in Griffintown. According to my source the garage and its offices was recently sold and the garage will move out as early as December of this year so the structure can be demolished for condos. The garage will relocate on St-Patrick street.

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This photo is a bit out of focus as I took it from a moving bus 4 years ago. I never bothered taking a direct photo of this building because I assumed that they would never touch this one. Well, I guess I was wrong. Promoter Luc Poirier got the permit to build a 20-storey high building there. The only condition set by the city for the demolition: they have to keep and integrate the facades on Peel and Wellington with the new building. Wow. This is enough to realize that Montreal has really lost it. These small unassuming buildings are what gives this city, or any city for that matter, character. Erecting another huge bland condo/office/whatever project there is truly sad, and sad for Griffintown.

Link via Montréalités urbaines

Additional link

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I wonder what's going to happen to this abandoned building on the corner of De La Montagne and Notre-Dame Ouest, which is on the Griffintown side of Notre-Dame O which delineates Griffintown and Ville-Marie. Let's look at the other 3 corners:  there's a new anonymous-looking building there and another new anonymous-looking building and yet another new bland building. Hmm...I see a pattern. You can get a 360 degree view of the intersection with Google Streetview with this link. I don't know about the adjoining small businesses next to it (last photo) but the fate of this one seems pretty much sealed.

Somehow this reminds me of a Hollywood-made science-fiction movie from the 1950s called MONOLITH MONSTERS and its tagline: Mammoth skyscrapers of stone thundering across the earth!

(this image: google streetview)

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The "Baron Sport" building just on the edge of Griffintown on Notre Dame Ouest. The building is abandoned. What will happened to it? I heard that they were planning to cut the building in two, by just keeping the front facade. I don't know if it's going to happened but with all the activity going on in Griffintown, this building shouldn't remain empty for too long.

The rear of the building. I love this photo! If it weren't for the two new cars, the meter sign and the plastered ads, it would be a perfect timeless snapshot.

This is how it looked like several decades ago. Notice the two buildings on the left.

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The renovated Dow Brewery building on Peel st and William (already posted a few weeks ago) and its owners are looking for R&D renters (R & D: research & development). Hmm, this sorta answers my question that I've been wondering for a while:  when will the building be completed/occupied. This billboard is sorta new as I was in the area in late June/early July and there was nothing there. The billboard says occupation spring 2011 but we are well past spring so the billboard is a tad late. It also says that they will give priority to partners of the ETS school. If they're already partners, this billboard is certainly not directed at them.

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The swanky District Griffin sales office on Peel street for condo projects, including the St Ann one posted below. Pretty cool for a sales office. I like the ironwork design for the lamps. Notice that they call it Griffin and not Griffintown. The last photo shows how it used to look like.

 

(image: google streetview)

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A sprawling building that used to have several businesses, such as La Cache, will be converted into lofts. The building itself was renovated a few years ago and it's already in great condition so the conversion won't take long as they've already announced that they will be available in October. I'm glad they're keeping the building as is. Those lofts will have a great view of the canal.



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Another big condominium complex will rise where a sprawling red brick building(s) currently housing several various businesses in Griffintown. Only the small vintage store, Ludovik boutique (facebook) on the corner of De La Montagne and Ottawa will remain intact (thank god!).  I don't know if the Hovig gallery next to the Ludovik store will survive.

I was actually there last week to take photos of the building (or buildings) as my source told me they will be eventually demolished. When I visited the place again today, big ads have been plastered around it, displaying the future condo project. One of the businesses there is a garage for mini coopers called Miniac.

This condo project is just next to the humongous Bassin du Havre project. The sales office is on Peel street. I love old red brick buildings so I'm not too keen about this.

I took the photo above today and the photo below last week. The big ads weren't there last week.

The building(s) in question and set to be demolished is in green and named St Ann condos. As you can see there's a lot of activity in Griffintown right now. Every project (except for the one in orange, the ETS/Dow Brewery on Peel street and the Sales Office) are new constructions, either replacing old buildings and businesses or parking lots. The building for the lofts, as mentioned in the post above, will remain intact.

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Last summer, they were working on the Dow Brewery building. I returned there in May and it still didn't look quite finished though more completed than last summer. That reno is really taking its sweet time.The comments made for a video uploaded at Youtube sorta sheds some light on why it's so slow.

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The Atwill-Morin building on Young and Smith in Griffintown, was being demolished just a few ago when I took so picture. Months ago, my source told me that the building will soon be demolished so I took photos this past winter for some "Before-After" sets, which you can compare with these photos. Tons of construction going on in Griffintown and this is one of the many in the general area. You can also view how it looked like with Google streetview.

A small entrepôt on Young street that's also part of the demolition

(image: google streetview)

The many projects going on in the area: the Atwill Morin site, the two projects on Ottawa St. posted here, and the Lowney Condo construction, posted here.

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Two new projects are going up on Ottawa St, between De La Montagne and Peel St. The first project, on the corner of Murray and Ottawa, is almost completed where a parking lot used to be. The second project is on the corner of De La Montagne and Ottawa, where a business used to be (the white building seen in the second to last picture). There used to be a small empty lot/parking lot there too where the leafy overgrowth used to be. This is where I photographed the Teddy of Griffintown two summers ago. Straddled in between those two projects are two cute houses and in between those two houses is a large yard where horses/ponies used to live. The two photos with the animals were taken 2 years ago as well. When I was there last week, I didn't see any horses or ponies (fifth photo).

image: google streetview

The sale office for the condos is situated in this building. A beautiful red brick building, renovated to its former glory a few years ago and is a great example of keeping the old instead of destroying it.

Where are the horses and ponies?

I took these two photos two summers ago.

New Project on De la Montagne, where a business used to be. The parking lot behind it will be part of the new project.

The white building is gone, making way for new project on De La Montagne and Ottawa.

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Photo taken during the summer of 2009 in Griffintown



















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The Dow Brewery

This big structure, just at the edge of downtown Montreal and Griffintown, has been abandoned and derelict since forever. I don't remember a time when it wasn't abandoned. Every day I would go to work and see that big empty rundown building and wondered when or what will they do with it. Well, this year, they've started renovations.


The two first photos were taken a couple years ago with 35mm camera + fujifilm. The other photos were taken with my digital camera. I just love the look of 35mm.






























































It's been derelict for so long that trees were growing on the shute and grass on the window ledge














The red building on the right is the former Lowney factory renovated into condos.
























The Dow Brewery is finally going under reconstruction/renovation. The following 4 photos were taken during the summer of 2010.





























Brand new windows.













No more tree growing on the shute









































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The Canada Post mailing center, which occupied an area of 1 million square feet in Little Burgundy/Griffintown, is gone and will be replaced by, you guessed it, condos.
























The massive mailing center had been there for decades but was termed obsolete a few years ago and was vacant for two years.

You can see how big the building was in the 3rd photo from google maps. The last image is the planned condo complex to replace it.




















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Nothing special about the garage except that it stood derelict for so many years (since the 1998 ice storm) that it became an unofficial Montreal landmark. When I went by there this year (see two last photos below) I was surprised that they finally removed it. 3 top photos are from the summer 2008; the 2 photos below are from the summer 2010