Surprises surface as Union Bank project advances
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
Llew Price holds a clay bottle unearthed from the labyrinth of stone walls, vaults and columns in the bowels of the Union Bank building, the subject of a massive renovation by the owners of the Auberge Saint-Antoine on Rue Dalhousie.
“There’s a stamp on it in German. It’s written ‘the Duchy of Nassau,’” Price said. The Duchy of Nassau was once a province of Prussia. While Price initially thought the bottle might have contained eau-de-vie or alcohol, it turns out to have been mineral water.
“So back in the 19th century, you can imagine Quebec was importing mineral water from Prussia, which is actually quite, you know, astonishing in itself. It was supposed to be medicinal, and supposed to be very good for you.”
Further research revealed the company that made and exported the mineral water still exists today, Price said. “It’s actually owned by a German conglomerate [Dr. Oetker], and part of their business is the hotel business – they own, for example, the Bristol in Paris.”
That bizarre bottled connection between upscale hoteliers on both sides of the Atlantic is but one of the seemingly end- less surprises the Prices have encountered in transforming the landmark bank building into a luxury hotel adjacent to and connected with the already famous Auberge.
The pleasant surprises have been the 50 cases worth of artifacts extracted from several sites below the building as excavation of stonework, some dating back to the 1600s, proceeds.
“We have 17th, 18th, 19th- century vestiges in this building. So restoring that [building] there’s always surprises. You know, we were expecting surprises, but when they arrive, it’s still a surprise.”
The Price family acquired the building in 2020, having owned a floor in it for years for its paper company. The complete gutting of the structure, whose last ground-floor tenant was a restaurant which closed in 2019, began in 2022. The project initially had a target for completion this year, but Price now says the hotel is expected to be completed two years from now.
A major step forward will be the installation of a crane on a side street to begin work on the exterior of the building and the construction of additional stories on a secondary building. Price said he has reached an agreement with the neighbouring Royal Dalhousie hotel to use a portion of its parking lot to erect the crane and provide a security perimeter.
That work has required the closing of one lane of Côte de la Montagne to create a delivery area in addition to the security zone. As a consequence, the street will be one-way between Rues Saint-Pierre and Dalhousie for the duration of the construction period.
Price said, “Up to now, we’ve been doing what we call preliminary work, which is the gutting of the building [and] a lot of the masonry work that had to be done. We’re pretty much near the end of that.
“We’re taking an old building and really going from bottom to the top. So when we’re finished, this building will be good for another 400 years,” he said. As for the estimated cost, Price said the “scary expensive” project has an overall budget of around $50 million. When it is eventually completed, the hotel will have meeting rooms on the first floor, seven guest units each on the next three floors and four units on the top floor, a total of 25. A spa with a swimming pool will be installed in the basement.
Despite the delays and mounting costs, Price said he is undaunted by the project as it nears the halfway point. He said his and the Price family’s mission is the same it was when it embarked on creating the Auberge Saint-Antoine in 1992.
“My motivation was to try to build a unique hotel that I would enjoy going to, and that was what drove us. I believe that if you’re able to achieve that, the business side will take care of itself.”