A twist in view of the development of a new performance hall in Longueuil: the City is once again considering building this cultural complex in the metro sector after having excluded it for cost reasons.
Depending on what The duty has learned, Mayor Catherine Fournier has given the mandate to an external firm to study the development of a building that could accommodate not only a performance hall, but also a hotel and a multifunctional room that can host events. Residential units could also be part of the project.
The City now rules out building this new performance hall on the vacant land located near rue Saint-Charles Est and boulevard Roland-Therrien, considered too far from the center to attract crowds. However, this was the solution envisaged in the fall of 2022.
In an interview, the mayor indicated that she had put forward the concert hall project in the metro sector – the most accessible place in the city – but not at the cost of more than $170 million which had been established in 2021 “We cannot move forward with a project of this magnitude with our municipal budgets,” says Catherine Fournier.
To reduce costs, the mayor plans to build the cultural complex in partnership with a private developer who could operate a hotel and conference rooms — a need on the South Shore, according to her.
Cry of the heart
For its part, the Théâtre de la Ville, a true institution of the Longueuil agglomeration, is sounding the alarm for the construction of this cultural complex which has been overdue for around fifteen years. The Theater’s two performance halls, located in the Édouard-Montpetit CEGEP, need major renovations – to the point where the presenter finds itself in a “precarious position”, we have learned The duty.
The Jean-Louis-Millette Hall (400 seats) requires work worth $13.5 million, while the Pratt & Whitney Hall (900 seats) needs significant investments to extend its estimated lifespan by another 10 years. .
In addition, the Théâtre de la Ville had to cede a creative studio, administrative offices and other spaces to the Cégep, which is growing and needs additional premises. Around ten employees of the institution have temporarily moved their offices into a conference room where they have just enough space to walk between the tables.
“The good news is that the Theater [de la Ville] is doing really well despite everything. We are growing at all levels, except for our infrastructure. We really have a loyal audience,” says its general director, Dominique Lapierre, as she shows us around the facilities of the establishment founded in 1989.
She wishes to renovate the Jean-Louis-Millette room during part of 2025. As for the Pratt & Whitney room, the plan consists of improving it to keep it in operation during construction work on a future cultural complex. . The lease with Cégep Édouard-Montpetit for this large hall with 900 seats has just been renewed for a period of 10 years — and 30 years for the Jean-Louis-Millette hall.
“We really need a new room. Our main concern is to keep our audience. People tell us: the comfort of our rooms is not great,” explains M.me Stone.
Rejuvenation treatment
The Pratt & Whitney Hall stage is wide, but its height and depth are insufficient for jazz ballet, circus or symphony orchestra performances, for example. The 900 seats installed in 1997 betray their age. Artists’ dressing rooms need a facelift.
As for the Jean-Louis-Millette Hall, it has changed little since its inauguration in 1989. There is no landing stage to transport the show equipment to the stage. And the foyer welcoming the spectators before their entry into the room has an air vintage with its gray carpet.
The office of Quebec Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, confirms that financial assistance is being studied for the renovation of the Théâtre de la Ville’s infrastructure. Dominique Lapierre also wants to convince the minister to quickly give the green light to a new cultural complex deemed essential for Montérégie.
She believes that the mayor has more urgent “other priorities”, which Catherine Fournier denies. “I understand their impatience, they have been waiting for almost 20 years. We want a new performance hall, but it is a complex issue. This is one of the issues in which I have been most involved,” concludes the mayor.