1180 reasons to stay
A bunch of millionaires bought condos in a recently gentrified area of Griffintown, near a traditionally working-class neighborhood. These high-rise condos, however, were built in a formerly industrial zone, on the sites where factories once produced many goods which are now produced overseas, but there is another rant about that and I think I already ranted about that one anyway. The area in question is not far from a former neighborhood called goose village, an area of town which housed mostly Italian and anglophone immigrants. The city destroyed that area of town in preparation for expo 67, but that is yet another rant for another time.
This should come before condos: 1180 St-Antoine West (photo by Google Street View)
An old office tower called the Windsor building across the street from the Windsor train station located at 1180 St Antoine west, next to a condemned building, has had a large community of artists, mainly musicians, using it for rehearsals, recording and other artistry for well over 30 years.
These condos, which were built less than 5 years ago, have issued many noise complaints against this building. As a result, tenants in the building are not allowed to use the facilities with the windows open. Trouble is, during a heatwave and during the summer in general, all of these condos are air conditioned, but the Windsor building at 1180 St-Antoine is not. During a heat-wave, they continue to threaten the building with noise complaints. These are wealthy, overprivilaged, extremely selfish idiots who would see culture in Montreal destroyed forever! They remind me a lot of the blue meanies from yellow submarine.
It seems to me that wherever any type of culture forms, there is always somebody who doesn’t like it and complains until they try to stop it. I think often it’s a control issue. People trying to control what they cannot. When they are successful, usually by scaring those miscreant artists and free-thinkers into submission and through intimidation and totalitarianism, the culture and art that would have been is never made and the artist is destroyed. Some of these people become shocked and deny the very tactics they are using, albeit only verbally, and continue to use such dictatorial tactics.
In a residential area, loud music can be disruptive, especially when the music is being written or rehearsed, because it takes a lot of rehearsal and practice to make for a good show, which is what these musicians crave and what they do. When 1180 was built, this wasn’t a residential area. 1180 was there first and these Johnny-come-lately condos that are invading the territory have absoloutely zero right to complain. If you don’t like the noise, then don’t sit on the speaker! They’ve even started some viscious rumors about tearing the building down, along with the condemned building next door.
I have to admit, since I have a studio in this building. I’m perhaps a little biased against the condos, but at “Just over three million dollars” as the advert on the front of the building read during the condos’ construction, it feels like Goliath is trying to conquer this pleasant community of artists in favour of a dry, artless distopic world much like the one Savonarola envisioned, only without the religious aspect of it either.
