I recently became the owner of the big building at the corner of Church and Verdun, the one with the restaurant in it. It has 36 apartments upstairs. It appears to have been built in 1957. Does anybody have any memories of the place? Nowadays it's a peaceful quiet nice place. I think there was cookie shop downstairs for a long time, but not sure.
(BTW, I have a 1 1/2 to rent there all included, even cable, fridge, stove, heated, and futon bed, curtains included, spotless, 514 436 5830 megaforce@gmail.com)
THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
20 comments:
I remember a bank on that corner. Do you have a photo?
S.A.
I remember a Library on that corner.
Hey I remember a library on that corner as well, and I have been to that library, quite often as a kid.
I heard of that too.
The library must have been there a long time ago because my older siblings went there. I remember Brown library had just been built when I was a youngster, plus there was one in City Hall if I remember correctly.
Hi cocopuff...there was one at city Hall, that is the one I went to.
Here's a pic
Attachment: restaurant for rent.jpg
hey-megaforce back then it was a corner cookie bulk type store, over 20 years ago? never looked up, a large block of rentals, which i never noticed till looking at your pic.
hey- megaforce always admire someone taking risks, i was told this years ago to share swim with the sharks but risk being eaten alive
Is that the north east corner. Guy
I remember a red (?) brick building in the 40s and 50s on the south west corner which resembled a bank. The corner brickwork was interlapped, and made it easy to climb. Was that a library?
Bill
Hi mega, My memories of this building are bits and pieces. In the fourties There was a drug store where the restaurant is and on the corner was the Veteran's News Stand. There was a boys and girl's club on the second floor. I seem to remember it called "The Kinsman's Club" but don't quote me. It was run by a man named Maurice Mariasini who was many years with "Boys Clubs of Canada' I don't know when it went to residences but the news stand went and the drugs store became a biscuit store called Gigi's. I lived in the building for a few months when I lost everything in a fire and needed a place that was self contained. Unfortunately, the availability of instant housekeeping attracts transients like men discharged from Bordeaux who need an immediate place. Although I was working at St.Willibrord's at the time and was only there at night I found the living intolerable and when I got burnt out again by the drunk next door sleeping in bed I moved to a rented flat on Gordon. Ed
Yes it's the North East corner.
Last year, before I bought it, there was an element of drunken and other bad people in the building but they're all gone now and there is good surveillance, cameras in the hallways it's very quiet now and only good people are allowed to rent apartments.
The empty lot across the street is a bit of an eyesore, but the borough said they were turning it into a green space, But it's for sale and they didn't even make an offer. So it's for sale. In the past few years the lot was sold for $60,000 thousand and then $70,000 but now the vendor is asking $280,000 for it, so I imagine it will continue to be empty and ugly for quite a while.
Meanwhile Ma's Fish and Chips on Church has been for sale for quite a while, I think he's looking for something like $230,000, there is a half a parking lot that goes along with it, so perhaps someone could buy that one and the other adjacent building (on the other side of the same parking lot) and demolish both and make something nice.
The zoning is such that all of Wellington, as well as Church from Wellington to Verdun is commercial, while the rest of Verdun has been zoned residential. So that means that when those little shops on other streets (Bannantyne, Verdun, etc) go empty for more than a couple of months, they can no longer be run as commercial and will therefore then be transformed into residential units. So in the future you'll see a lot less mom and pop shops on those other little streets.
I am familiar with that building as the corner store used to be a pastry shop at 556 Verdun ave.in the middle of the 40s called Marathon Confectionery and my sister used to work there as a sales girl. The vacant lot across the street you refer to has been empty for many years and I am surprised that nobody seems to be interested in purchasing it. I tried the fish and chip store a couple of times but unfortunately it cannot be compared to the old ones we had in Verdun, including one that was across the street in the same period. The area between Verdun and Bannantyne is unfortunately neglected and could stand some uplifting as businesses seem to avoid that section. Most Verdunites prefer encouraging buisinesses between Verdun and Wellington. And of course, who can forget the Old Park Theater wich was near Claude strret and wich burnt down about 10 years ago. Guy
Ya know Meg, Cameras in the halls are the best thing you could have done. The other thing is being particuler to whom you rent. I'm really glad to hear that the building is in good hands now. In apartment buildings people live so close that it is important to be respectful of the neighbours. The empty lot across the street was a tile and carpet store which was burned by an arsonist. An arsonist named Roger Varin once lived in your building. He used to start smoke fires and yell that everyone should get out. When people left he would steal their belongings. I went to court against him and was told that arson is not a crime, it's considered a mental illness. They sent him to Pinel where Doctor's sent him home. Ed
I don't remember it but it is a shabby looking place, eh? Demolition to come? lol
demolition would cost more to remove than buying the building. from 1977 down -all buildings have some form of asbestos, all asbestos has to be removed, bagged, tagged, taken to a special land fill site. mold is another heavy cost for removals. a building that age, has asbestos insulation on pipes, walls, ceilings just to do renovations cost a fortune, its a goverment that makes the rules also lead paint, flooring tile, even glues on floors?? we are on a project now that the tiles were glued and there's asbesto's in it the inspectors what the concrete floor shot blasted, before jack hammering the floor and taken to the land fill. several thousand to shot blast 1200 sq ft of slab. personnally, knowing the construction law and business i would keep away from these old buildings, but if you got it inspected and deduct the cost of making it good. forget the building inspector, get a firm like pinchin, that do this kind of work, and get a written report, it may cost several thousands but its good insurance, then go see the seller and discuss this unforseen condition. i get calls from pinchin, for quotes for carpenter to open up walls, ceilings etc for them to have a better look, my charge out rate 2 carpenters, scaffollds equipment 2800.00 a day. additional cost if needed rental equipment. i'm sure your notary, must of did his homework on buying the building only one problem i don't like in quebec, is you only use the one notary unless its different today?? myself i'd get my own lawyer( notary) to have me assured
I don't know how the word demolition got into this. It is not a shabby looking place at all. From the outside the brickwork is solid and straight and not very long ago done. Inside the halls are straight and clean and each individual aprtment has two nice windows. When I lived there I had to turn off one radiator in winter as I found it too hot with both going. The building is far from demolition and could be a good money maker, properly run. How comfortable it is to live there depends on the tenants you take. I wish you all the best Mega, let me know if I can help. I live a few blocks from there. Ed
Thanks for all the replies. I think it could use a bit of a cosmetic facelift, for example the bricks are somewhat faded but they're in good condition. Assuming all goes well I'll be able to afford some nice touches like that. The building is somewhat profitable and I should eventually be able to do these things, the problem is that the restaurant is vacant and I've got it up for rent, so if anybody knows of a serious person looking to rent a restaurant lemme know.
The building is in otherwise good shape and it's a good place to live if you're looking to live alone.
The people who live there are quite friendly and they mind their own business and the janitor is dedicated to making it perfect.
I have been working with the police and local politicians (the city Councillor Ginette Marotte lives just a couple of doors down) and they've all been very helpful. There was a period where there was a drunken lunatic bothering people, but I got him out of the building and it's quiet now.
If I can get some grants from the borough of Verdun I'd seriously consider doing a major upgrade of the property, balconies, elevators, but I'll only see about that a bit later. It sure would be nice if they could finish some of the other stuff they say they're going to do, such as bury the electrical lines on Church, and add some green space around there.
megaforce when you are going to do upgrades, send a e mail i can prepare a proposed budget for the upgrades that you are planning in the future.
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