Heritage activists pleased with Maison Alcan tower delay

Heritage activists are applauding Montreal'sdecision to delay a proposed 30-storey downtown tower project at the site of the current Maison Alcan.

• Coderrenot doing enough to protect keyarchitecture, says heritage advocate

"We felt very happy that they took that courageous step," said Dinu Bumbaru of Heritage Montreal. "It's a wise move and a goodgesture."

The project callsfor the demolition of a building at 2010 Stanley, while all but the faade of the structure at 2055 Drummond would be demolished.

That abandoned structure was long known as the Winter Club, a former figure skating venue built in 1912.

The tower project would require a zoning change that would effectively increase the value of the land, which Bumbaru describes as a"speculative coup."

He feels the increased land value windfall wouldincreasethe chance that the project would not go forward following the demolitions, leaving a series of barren downtownlots, as occurred in such long-stalled Montreal projects asthe Overdaleblock and the Queens Hotel.

The MaisonAlcan project had been greenlighted at several previous administrative steps.

"It was atechnocratic process that nobody can get a holdon what was happening. You had to know your civic numbers by heart to know what they were talking about," Bumbaru said.

Rio Tinto Alcan plans to move out of the currentMaison Alcan into the newly-build Deloitte Tower near the Bell Centre next year.

The Maison Alcanwas built in 1983 and was seen as a model for integrating old and new structures. Itwas since purchased by new owners includingGuy Lalibert, founder of the Cirque du Soleil.