Peter Black
March 13, 2024
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
Nearly nine years after it hosted its final event, a concert by rock gods Metallica, the historic but obsolete Colisée arena is edging closer to demolition.
While consultations are still underway on a development vision for the zone that includes the Colisée on the ExpoCité site, Mayor Bruno Marchand has made it clear the building must go.
At a March 4 news conference to unveil sports and recreation infrastructure investments, the mayor reaffirmed his campaign promise to demolish the 75-year-old structure, which he said is beyond saving.
“It is not profitable. We had suggestions [for other uses], but the fact remains that it is an enormous infrastructure which is no longer suitable. Just bringing it up to fire safety standards is out of the question. It would cost a crazy amount.”
Official Opposition and Québec D’abord Leader Claude Villeneuve is of the same opinion. “Maybe it’s too old and needs too many repairs and investments,” he said in an interview with the QCT.
Villeneuve said he knows people have sentimental memories of the old arena and he wants to hear what people have to say about its future in ongoing consultations on the future of ExpoCité.
He said he disagrees with former mayor Régis Labeaume’s idea of transforming the building into a centre for “emerging sports” such as BMX and rock climbing.
Labeaume estimated the cost of converting the building for its new mission at $40 million. When the former mayor made the announcement in 2021, the price of demolishing the Colisée was pegged at $17 million.
Limoilou Coun. and Transition Québec Leader Jackie Smith, whose district includes ExpoCité, is proposing a hotel for the site, in contrast to the mayor’s stated desire for more housing.
She told reporters, “I recognize the need and I am fighting to increase the number of housing units, but it’s going to cost a fortune to redo the place and we don’t need $3,000 housing in the neighborhood.”
Smith said, “I like the idea of densification, but not of creating a neighbourhood for rich people in this area.”
Villeneuve said a proposal for a hotel needs to be “coherent” with other developments in the area, notably the massive redevelopment in the Place Fleur de Lys zone the Trudel brothers’ company has launched, which includes a hotel.
Consultations on the future of ExpoCité are expected to continue into June.
The Colisée, first built in 1949, has seen many changes over the years. In 1979 it underwent extensive renovations to prepare it to welcome the NHL’s Nordiques, which had been transferred from the World Hockey Association.
The last NHL game in the Colisée was a first-round playoff game in May 1995 between the Nordiques and the New York Rangers. Shortly afterwards, the team was bought and moved to Denver, Colorado, and renamed the Avalanche. More recently, the arena was the home of the Quebec Remparts, until the opening of the Videotron Centre in 2015.
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Mayor Bruno Marchand has said he intends to demolish the Colisée Pepsi.
Image from Ville de Quebec