Historic Loews Theatre demolished as part of condo development

The historic Loews Theatre in Montreal has been demolished to make way for new condos downtown.

The development will include 248 residential units and the creation of an alleyway connecting Mansfield St. and Cathcart St. with the Dorchester Square area.

The iconic cinema, located on Ste-Catherine St., opened its doors in 1917 and was the largest Canadian theatre until the 1960s.

Although the theatre itself closed decades ago and was replaced with a gym, much of its architecture — including its grand archways and bas-relief sculptures — was preserved.

In April, when the project was first announced, the condo developer told CTV News it will maintain some of the building’s historic elements by displaying parts of the architecture in the alleyway.

“We have to basically tear it down, but some of the pieces here, we try to preserve it and we try to integrate back into the new building, the new project,” said Vincent Kou, vice president of Brivia Group.

But Heritage Montreal said losing the building means losing a major emblem of the city’s rich cultural history.

“We’re talking of something which is a century old. There used to be many of them in that strip of Ste-Catherine, making Montreal the bustling cultural hub that we know today, and this one is the last one to stand,” said Heritage Montreal policy director Dinu Bumbaru. 

With files from CTV's Daniel Rowe and Gabrielle Fahmy.