Charred ruins still lie in broad daylight in Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles, a month and a half after the fire which ravaged a century-old building.
The impressive mound of burned debris is impossible to miss on Saint-Dominique Street and poses increasing safety challenges with the arrival of sunny days.
“The Ville-Marie district has not received any feedback from the owner of the building,” indicated municipal relations officer Guillaume Rivest by email. “Consequently, we issued a statement of offense and consolidated a security perimeter at the owner’s expense. »
“The Ville-Marie borough teams are working hard to ensure that the owner quickly fulfills its obligations with regard to the security of the site, either by cleaning up debris and maintaining the security perimeter,” said he continued
1602-1610 rue Saint-Dominique burned to the ground in the early hours of March 23. The blaze required the intervention of more than 100 firefighters. The causes of the fire have still not been determined.
According to the assessment role of the City of Montreal, the premises belong to businessman Arvind Soni, via a numbered company domiciled in Brossard.
Reached at another of his businesses – a carpet retailer – Mr. Soni assured that he was taking care of the problem. ” I do. I’ll take care of that. I don’t sleep, I know it’s my responsibility,” he said in a telephone interview, before ending the conversation abruptly.
Mr. Soni added that he could not legally move the charred debris within 30 days of the fire. The City of Montreal agreed with him on this point: “debris whose temperature can cause fires cannot be buried.”
According to Google photo archives, the building that burned had been boarded up since at least 2007.
It is located in an area promised for redevelopment: its immediate neighbor is a former garage whose owner affirmed in 2021 his desire to see the land – located at the corner of Saint-Laurent and Maisonneuve – host a project worthy of its location. Towers of 20 and 26 floors have just sprung up a few dozen meters away.