The Cartier cinema-theatre in Saint-Henri, the lair where the famous Poune and her friends performed for years, has found a new owner. The Fabienne Colas Foundation has acquired the soon-to-be-century-old building.
In an interview, Fabienne Colas explained that the Cartier “will be renamed the Colas Theatre, in tribute to the work the foundation has been doing for 20 years.” The businesswoman and director said she was pleased that the board of directors of the organization she chairs and founded felt justified in giving her name to the project. “I am very humbly touched by this mark of confidence from my board of directors.”
The former performance hall has been abandoned for years. It promises to become a showcase for “racialized and emerging artists” looking for a venue, as well as a place where it will be possible to present “auteur films” outside the usual commercial circuit.
This new cultural hub, sponsored by Fabienne Colas, intends to offer 500 seats in the main space, as well as two other rooms upstairs, one of which has 150 seats and can host shows and screenings. The upper floor also promises to have a café-bar capable of hosting launches and conferences as well as exhibitions and cocktails. A small exhibition gallery will be attached to the whole, according to the projections formulated by the new occupants.
Opening in 2027
The Neuf firm is responsible for the renovation of the premises. It is currently impossible to know the financing plans for this huge project.
Will this project benefit from subsidies? “For the moment, we are enjoying the acquisition,” says Fabienne Colas, while mentioning cultural initiatives where public aid for the development of buildings has amounted to nearly 20 million.
“The building is not classified as heritage. It was only of heritage interest. We have restrictions for the façade only,” says the cultural entrepreneur, explaining that she wants to review all the spaces in the building.
According to Fabienne Colas, the new theatre should open its doors in 2027. It should help to “break down the barriers in the South-West district”, while recycling a place with a rich past.
The transaction
In 2010, the building was sold for a sum of just over $700,000. The former theatre was resold in 2021 for just over $2 million by a numbered company, controlled by businessman François Odermatt, to another numbered company. Mr. Odermatt is known to be a major collector of contemporary art in Montreal.
The sellers were asking for 2.5 million this year for the premises. The transfer of ownership to the Fabienne Colas Foundation has still not been legally approved, confirms the president. “It will happen in the next few days,” she says, without wanting to give more details.
Located in the heart of the Saint-Henri district, where the novel was set Second-hand happinessby Gabrielle Roy, this theatre opened its doors on the eve of the great economic crisis of the fall of 1929. Rose Ouellette, one of the queens of burlesque, ran it until the mid-1930s. The Cartier Theatre served as a springboard for her long career. Fabienne Colas finds it “extraordinary” that this place, originally run by a woman, is being taken over “by a woman from a diverse background”.
In its origins, the building was distinguished by its elegance. It was built according to the plans of the architect Raoul Gariépy, who also designed the Rialto theater, on Avenue du Parc. The theater showed popular films for years, during the heyday of neighborhood cinemas.
The space later served as a warehouse for a plumbing company, before finding a new life in the 1960s as a nightclub. Dawson College rented it out in the 1970s for the benefit of its theatre students. It had been neglected for two decades.
With Dave Noel