I would say that just ripping off that tin crap siding they put on it 30 years or more ago, would be a good start. The Aud looked pretty cool as an old building & the so-called facelift they did,just made it look like a shed that should be torn down. It was absolute shit ,compared to what could have been done. (IMHO)
I see they will try & capture some of it's old original look ,with the new improvements on the inside. Anyway here you go read the following story from the Gazette itself. Cheers ! LesF
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Under the redesign, the auditorium will be preserved, complete with its steel roof support trusses and wooden chairs that date back to the venue’s construction 75 years ago.But the dark brown aluminum cladding covering its front wThe renovations are expected to begin in April and be completed in 2018. The City of Montreal will cover half the cost, with additional funding coming from Quebec, Verdun and other sources. The venue will be wheelchair-accessible, including to athletes who play luge hockey.
For project designers, the main difficulty was to find a way to update the auditorium to the standards of modern, light-filled arenas and public venues, while maintaining the historic allure of a building that has been central to Verdun and its residents since it was built in 1939.
“The challenge was to link a modern, contemporary architectural intervention with the conservation of an important heritage site,” said Éric Gauthier of the FABG architectural firm. “At the same time we wanted to link it to the river behind, and without creating a closed box, but more of a convivial space.”
Whereas other municipalities in North America tend to demolish the old, particularly when it pertains to buildings of debatable aesthetic appeal, Montreal is unique in its attempts to preserve the historical nature of its buildings, Gauthier said. And renowned for it.
The redesign was spurred by the city’s needs to update the rinks’ ice surfaces, under Quebec law requiring the replacement of any arena refrigeration system that uses ozone-depleting freon gas by the year 2020. Officials hope that by modernizing the building and bringing it up to fire and earthquake-resistance standards, the lack of which caused its extinction as a concert venue in the 1990s, the auditorium will once again be a popular venue, one of the few in Montreal capable of seating 4,000 people.
“We want this temple of large-scale sports and cultural events to be revived” for the benefit of future generations, said Verdun Mayor Jean-François Parenteau, accompanied by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.
Although several Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams played there, the last in 2011, officials said the renovations would not mean the return of major junior hockey to the city. The revival of wrestling greats the likes of Killer Kowalski and Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon is also unlikely. The arenas will honour the legacies of former National Hockey League greats Denis Savard and Scotty Bowman, who grew up in Verdun.
During renovations the borough will either stagger the work between the two arenas to allow skating to continue, or use rinks in other boroughs or municipalities.
1 comment:
Wow. This brings back memories. I'd forgotten that it was still around.
Bobb
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