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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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 Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:59 am Post subject: Curbing the sin in Montreal's red-light district |
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Curbing the sin in Montreal's red-light district
A plan to scrub the peep and porn from the lower Main threatens the city's identity, some say
INGRID PERITZ
From Monday's Globe and Mail
MONTREAL � It has the names of two saints in it, but the intersection of Ste. Catherine Street and St. Laurent Boulevard is about the most unholy spot in the city of Montreal. Hustlers, strippers, runaways, ladies-of-the-night -- they've been parading at the crossroads of Montreal's two most famous streets for more than a century.
The streets form a gateway to Montreal's legendary lower Main, a seedy, neon-lit strip known for activities that range from mainstream to outright illegal.
Now, city officials have the strip earmarked for a makeover. The city has just cleared a legal hurdle to expropriate a building at the intersection that houses a peep show and other "adult" businesses. It wants to demolish the property and replace it with a $20-million cultural centre sheathed in glass and lights, a move the city hopes will take some of the XXX out of Montreal's traditional red-light district and help launch a reborn entertainment district in its place.
"It will create an irreversible �lan not just for culture, but the whole area," said Benoit Labont�, mayor of Montreal's downtown Ville Marie borough. "It will be the beginning of a very big phase of urban renewal."
But some fear that in the process of cleaning up the lower Main, Montreal's soul and heritage could be washed away too. The lower Main, as St. Laurent around Ste. Catherine is known, has been the street of non-conformity since about the founding of the city. During Prohibition, the strip was famous continent-wide for its extravagant vaudeville and cabaret shows that continued into the wee hours, including a 3 a.m. "milkman's matinee."
"St. Laurent is Montreal's street of tolerance par excellence. You could allow things there that you couldn't allow elsewhere else," said Jean-Marc Larrue, author of Les Nuits de la "Main", a history of cultural life on the street.
"The police didn't go there. The Church didn't go there. It escaped the normal rules of morality.
"That's why you'd find stripteases on St. Laurent, you'd find gambling and prostitution. There were no rules on St. Laurent. And what's there today is the continuity of what has always been there."
Much illicit activity was swept away under the vice-clearing broom of Mayor Jean Drapeau in the 1950s, but some old-style businesses live on. Caf� Cleopatra still attracts crowds for its drag shows and strippers. The famous Montreal Pool Room, seemingly frozen in time since it was opened by a penniless Bulgarian immigrant in 1912, serves up 96-cent "steamie" hot dogs on deeply worn Formica countertops.
Dinu Bumbaru of Heritage Montreal says city planners have to be careful they don't throw out the baby with their urban-renewal bathwater.
"St. Laurent is one of the most significant heritage streets in the city. It's a sinful place, but it's a soulful place too," Mr. Bumbaru said. "We run a risk of sanitizing it.
"The street has its problems -- we shouldn't be naive -- but it's a bouillon, something very alive. We run the risk of erasing that reality."
Some wonder if renewal will leave room for the old-style, even historic, businesses. Importations Main, an old-fashioned grocery selling Middle Eastern specialties, was the first business in Canada to import olives and feta cheese. Today, Th�r�se Haddad stands behind her bins of cashews and dried fruit and wonders what will happen to the business started by her husband's family in 1917.
"St. Laurent has a special cachet and if it will change it's too bad, because they'll erase all the small businesses like ours," said Mrs. Haddad, as her 80-year-old husband, Teddy, who's about to retire, stood nearby. "I worry they want to get rid of us for their big projects."
Mr. Labont� and other leaders say they aren't trying to play vice squad or chase anyone away. But he, along with arts, tourism and business leaders, say Montreal needs a focal point and boost for its cultural activities.
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Troll_Bait
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: [T]eaching experience doesn't matter much. -Lee Young-chan (pictured)
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:04 am Post subject: |
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| I've walked through that area many times. I didn't get the impression that it was the gaping maw of Gehenna. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:08 am Post subject: |
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I walked by those clubs every morning on my way to work for a year. That was about 6 years ago. Still, to this day, when I smell bleach+cigarette smoke I very clearly remember those walks.
Last edited by thepeel on Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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Hookers and strip bars just move to another place.
These industries are extremely mobile. |
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