MONTREAL -- A corridor built in 1966 that gives access to Place des Arts will be more accessible thanks to a $4.2 million grant from the Government of Quebec.

The corridor will be the subject of major works connecting the complex to the Place des Arts metro station. A staircase will first be demolished, then a long replacement ramp with a gentle slope will be built along the entire length of the 50-metre corridor.

Just over three-quarters of the amount will go to renovate the structure. The rest will be used to renovate and restore the corridor.

The renovation, which was announced on Sunday, will make it easier for people with reduced mobility to access the six rooms and other spaces of the complex.

"Often, we talk about access to culture in the sense of offering the chance to all Montrealers and all Quebecers to appropriate it, (...) but today we are talking about access in its most essential sense: that of access to culture for all," explained the Minister responsible for the Metropolis and the Montreal region, Chantal Rouleau, during a news conference.

Nearly 80 people ask for help each evening to get to the halls, according to Place des Arts. Some are in wheelchairs, while others are equipped with a walker or cane, and others are visually impaired.

"The work is expensive because it affects the building of Place des Arts,(but) every penny will be accounted for," said the Minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy. "Place des Arts (...) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture so we must set an example. It is 2020. We have to make it accessible."

Places for people with limited physical capacity at Place des Arts are currently underused. Only 500 of them are occupied each year when that could be sixteen times more.

According to Minister Roy, this work will prevent people from missing out on shows.

A right

The renovation announcement delighted Marie Turcotte, the executive director of Ex aequo, an organization defending the rights of people with motor disabilities.

Turcotte, who herself uses a wheelchair, explained that people in wheelchairs do not always know the exact time of the hour at which the show will end, which currently makes it difficult for them to plan their transportation.

"Being able to take the metro (...) will give that freedom," she said in an interview. "People will be able to leave when the show is actually over."

The same goes for Linda Gauthier, the president of the Regroupement des activistes pour l'Inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ) who campaigned for this change.

According to Gauthier, too many cultural places in Quebec are not accessible to people who use mobility aids, in particular, because of the presence of steps.

"Even an inch and a half cannot be crossed," she said. "We don't have this access to culture like any other person."

Gauthier, who also uses a wheelchair, hopes that this announcement will encourage other performance halls to do work to become more accessible.

"It's a right," she said. "It is in the Charter of Rights. The first law in Quebec. And it is prescribed in the charter that we must have the right to all goods and services like everyone else."

The work is scheduled to start in April 2021 and the corridor should reopen in March 2022. Atelier TAG has been entrusted with the projected, and the work will be linked with that of the Société de transport de Montréal.