A local peep show complex which has long screamed screw you to advocates of cleaning up the Lower Main has closed.
The peep show was a haven for perverts and prostitutes who would cruise up and down little closed cabins where men would sit watching porno films.
I once wrote a freelance article for the local English daily about how there was a strange co-habitation between young kids playing video games upstairs and perverts and junk-riddled hookers prowling around the same joint and below. The Journal de Montreal copied it for a full front page spread the next day. The video games were removed long ago.
The Lower Main has long been disputed territory in the heart of this city as many top city officials have pushed for the area to be gentrified while others - including myself - believe that the market should dictate what should become of the area in an organic way and if that means keeping the area true to its longstanding gritty roots, then so be it.
The central turf in that battle was Cafe Cleopatra whose owner Johnny turned down many purchase offers and threats to expropriate his property.
The now-demolished west side of St. Lawrence between St. Kit and Dorch - long controlled by the Goulakos family - was slated to be turned into provincial government offices under a deal struck between friend-of-the-PQ Christian Yacciarni and then-PQ-minister-of-something Jean-Francois Lisee but that costly deal was nixed by the incoming Couillard Liberals.
Worth noting as well that the longtime ownership of the Midway changed last spring and a younger crowd has replaced the dive-bar set.
We will endeavour to find out more details concerning this new vacancy. Apologies for the poor photo taken yesterday. You'll note that the holes in the facade reveal that the buildings are stubbier than they appear.