All activities have been suspended since January 31 at the Cinéma Impérial, confirmed the spokesperson for the board of directors, Benoît Clermont.
However, negotiations to carry out renovation work are continuing with the federal government, he said, and “it is going well”.
Last December, the CA announced its intention to close the heritage building if the federal government did not grant the non-profit organization an amount equivalent to that granted by Quebec, i.e. 5.6 million.
Canadian Heritage had agreed to provide aid of one million over two years through the Canadian Cultural Spaces Fund, in the same way as other artistic organizations, but had not committed to paying more money.
Quebecor, which saved the building from bankruptcy in 2017, has already invested 8.5 million in work to save the cinema, but threatened to withdraw if the two levels of government and the City of Montreal did not extend the are necessary to carry out the current maintenance work.
Read our report on the announcement of the closure