The heritage building, saved in extremis by Quebecor in 2017, has still not obtained the public funding necessary for its restoration, we learn in a press release published Monday afternoon. The non-profit organization indicates that due to “insufficient federal funding”, the cinema on rue De Bleury “will have to end its activities on January 31, 2024”.
According to Benoît Clermont, member of the board of directors of the Center Cinéma Impérial, Quebecor has already invested 8.5 million in safeguarding cinema, while the Quebec government has committed to paying a sum of 5.6 million in the renovation of the building built in 1913, which requires significant work. The City of Montreal has also committed to contributing to its renovation.
But “without sufficient support from the Government of Canada, the feasibility of this project is seriously compromised, and the Imperial Cinema will have to end its activities,” writes administrator Benoît Clermont. Quebec has already lost a large number of heritage buildings due to dilapidation. If the preservation of built heritage is a real priority, a fair share between public and private contributions is essential. »
The Imperial was donated to the World Film Festival (FFM) in 1995 by Viacom, the parent company of Famous Players. But following the growing difficulties of the festival and numerous renovation works to be done on the building, the cinema had to close its doors several times. Restoration work was finally carried out in the early 2000s.
But faced with the financial troubles of the FFM, Quebecor bought the cinema’s mortgage debt in 2017, allowing the non-profit organization to remain the owner and avoid recovery procedures by creditors. The company managed by Pierre Karl Péladeau then became a priority tenant and activities were able to resume their course.
At the same time, a financial arrangement of the work to be carried out was made by Mr.me Manon Blanchette, from Quebecor, jointly with the general director of Imperial, François Beaudry-Losique (the son of Serge Losique, founder of the FFM). The CA is asking today that the “federal government grant a financial contribution equal to that granted by the government of Quebec”, i.e. 5.6 million.
“We need a sum of around 15 million to carry out this work,” François Beaudry-Losique confirmed to us in a telephone interview. Basically, we would like to transform the cinema into a multidisciplinary room, because at the moment, we are getting by. We also have to replace the audiovisual equipment, the speakers, the screen, we have to redo the roof, the painting… We cannot cover our costs in the current state of the cinema. »
At the time of writing these lines, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, had not responded to our interview request.
If the federal government does not respond to Imperial’s request, what will happen to the building? “It is certain that we are not going to demolish this building on the 1er February, replies François Beaudry-Losique. We will resolve things in a civilized manner. But we will have serious discussions and you will know pretty quickly what will happen. For the moment, Quebecor has made the decision to withdraw if the federal government does not support the project. So I take note of it, I can’t do anything about it. »
The Cinéma Impérial hosts several festivals, including Cinemania, the Festival du nouveau cinéma, but also Présence Autochtone as well as the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM).