The legendary cabaret La Tulipe is ceasing its activities “for the time being”. This decision comes the day after a judgment by the Court of Appeal which requires the establishment to stop making noise.
The owners of the record label La Tribu, which has operated the famous concert hall since the early 2000s, made the announcement late Tuesday afternoon. “With this judgment from the Quebec Court of Appeal, the future of culture in Montreal is now at stake – because no venue or concert hall is safe anymore,” they lamented in a press release.
For eight years, the owners of La Tulipe have been at odds with Pierre-Yves Beaudoin, who owns the neighbouring building. Beaudoin has set up a loft in one of the premises of the building that was previously used as a warehouse. The City has acknowledged that this is a zoning error: Mr. Beaudoin should never have obtained a permit to set up an apartment there. Since 2016, the man has complained repeatedly about the noise coming from the La Tulipe theatre on show nights. “This situation of constraint that we have been experiencing for eight years now has cost us enormous losses in operating revenue from the venue, in legal fees, in damages of all kinds,” the owners mentioned Monday.
In May 2023, the Superior Court partially ruled in favor of Mr. Beaudoin and ordered the performance hall to carry out soundproofing work. However, La Tulipe’s neighbor felt that this judgment did not go far enough. He took his case to the Court of Appeal, which ruled in his favor. In its decision rendered Monday, the court of second instance prohibited La Tulipe from making noise that could be heard from the neighboring building, or even from the terrace. The court said it based its decision on the current noise by-law of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
Call to elected officials
“We are now asking the decision-making bodies of the City of Montreal and the Minister of Culture and Communications of Quebec to take a position and implement measures to rectify the situation, thereby affirming the essential role of live performance, song, music, and artists, in a city with an international reputation like Montreal,” responded the promoters of the Papineau Avenue venue.
A few minutes before the announcement of the closure of the La Tulipe theatre, the mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough had already announced his intention to modify the noise by-law. “The judgment rendered in the case of La Tulipe is surprising. This interpretation of our by-law puts all performance halls at risk. I called a borough council meeting on Thursday to modify our by-law to preserve the performance halls of the Plateau-Mont-Royal,” wrote Luc Rabouin on X.
Built in 1913, the building of the cabaret La Tulipe is classified as a heritage site. For a long time, it housed the Théâtre des Variétés, which belonged to the actor Gilles Latulippe. The cabaret has seen all the great figures of Quebec burlesque, from Olivier Guimond to La Poune. More recently, since the venue was renamed La Tulipe, the cream of the music scene has performed there.