Montreal downtown landmark Loews Theatre toppled

Montreal's once-majestic Loews Theatre has finally been emphatically and irreversibly erased from the downtown streetscape, as bulldozers did their magic on the vacant structure, as demonstrated in these recent photos by Marc-André Bernier

Mollie King

Silent film stars Rita Jolivet and Mollie King were on hand for the sold out opening of Loews on Monday night 19 November 1917. They also pleaded with the crowd to buy Victory Loans for the war effort.

Also on the menu was the silent film The Secret of the Storm Country, as well as Fatty Arbuckle in Coney Island, as well as six vaudeville acts, including George Rosener doing his dope fiend and Civil War veteran bits. Also featured were Pepperino and Perry's accordion and violin act, Hohson and Beatty, two attractive girls doing opera and dance act Six Stylish Steppers

The next month the Loews got a visit from a 98-pound girl named Resista who used 400 pounds of weight resistance to defy any man who tried to pick her up.

Rita Jolivet

Loews got movies with sound in 1927 and was renovated in 1949 and converted to a five-cinema multiplex in 1975.

It's last-ever movie show was likely Sunshine with Ralph Fiennes, who showed up for the screening as part of the Montreal Jewish Film Festival in December 1999.

City councillor Gerry Weiner said that year that the Loews building would be demolished "over my dead body." and sought to have it turned into a concert hall or some other such thing.

Club Med World took it over for two years and in 2004 it was tranformed into the Mansfield Club gym, a gym that also closed.

Upcoming condo project

Brivia Group bought the property for $21 million in 2019 in order to build a $200-million 19-storey condo tower where Loews long stood. It was not a heritage site and developers were not required to save anything.

The new project comes complete with a rooftop pool, golf simulator, fitness center, teleworking and conference rooms, comercial space on ground floor and a wine bar.

The building will come with a 100 meters of outdoor heated sidewalks connecting it to nearby Dominion Square from Cathcart and Mansfield.

The 248 units will range in price from $350,000 to $1.5 million and will be ready for occupation in 2024. It's unusual to have condos on St. Catherine Street but indoor parking will be accessible at Cathcart in the back.

Downtown condo towers might lack the historical appeal of a landmark theatre but they benefit the city by bringing in hefty municipal tax revenues and bringing commerce to centrally-located businesses.

Alas there might be a decreased demand for condos as the city center has apparently become less desireable, as witnessed by Montreal's recent loss of 2.5% of its residents, while an unknown number more of Montreal have left the province or country since the Quebec government enacted draconian restrictions two years ago.