Iconic ninth floor Eaton Centre restaurant set to reopen in May
There was once a beautiful restaurant on the ninth floor of the former Eaton's department store. It closed 25 years ago, but many in Montreal still talk about it.
Soon, it will open to diners once again.
When Lady Eaton comissioned the space in 1931, she wanted to transport shoppers to the luxurious dining rooms of transatlantic liners.
Architect Jacques Carlu made the space into a temple of art-deco design, including the frescos by his wife Natasha.
"You can feel the investment," said architect Georges Drolet. "In the design, the furniture he chose, the tableware, the silverware. Apparently he even consulted on the uniforms of the personnel."
The Eaton Centre's ninth floor restaurant as it was. (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
For years, the restaurant was the place to go for special occasions, but by the time it closed in 1999, it was in disrepair.
Drolet's job was to restore it to its original beauty.
"It’s very personal for me, I have to say, to be able to show it now because it’s been quite a process," he said.
The restaurant on the ninth floor of the Eaton Centre was once the place to go. (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Any renovation project involves red tape, but as an indoor heritage property, there were even more hurdles.
The materials they were using, including the marble and polished metal from the 1930s, were no longer available.
The peach colour of the walls, as well, was a relic of the 1980s.
"So we only had black and white images of the original, but we could see something was not quite right," said Drolet. "So we actually tested them by scratching the layering of the paint going back to the original colour."
Now, after years of painstaking work and an undisclosed investment, its owners, Ivanhoe Cambridge, are launching it once again as a restaurant and event space.
"Le 9ieme" will open its doors to the public on May 17.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.