Demolition of historic site continues

MONTREAL - Quebecs Culture and Communications Department has ordered a developer to stop demolishing the foundations of a historic gasometer in Griffintown to allow archeologists to study and document the site.

But bulldozers continued to smash the vestiges all last week and the developer insisted he was never told to halt the demolition.

The last information (I got) is that (last) Monday morning, there was a contact with the cultural affairs department and the department said we didnt have to stop, said Jacques Vincent, co-president of Prvel.

Annie LeGruiec, a communications officer with the culture department, gave a very different version.

We asked the developer not to do any work on or around the vestiges, she said.

It was agreed with him that there would not be any more excavation. The zone which is forbidden is the summit of the structure and the perimeter in order not to weaken the vestiges, which are enormous, LeGruiec added.

She added that the culture department did not check whether the order had been followed.

Its on the developers good faith, she said.

Work crews discovered the massive foundations the week before last while excavating the site for a 20-storey condo tower at the southwest corner of Ann and Ottawa Sts.

The round brick structure, about 90 metres in diameter, once held tanks used to store the gas that lit Montreals streets.

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Demolition of historic site continues