Storied Montreal venue La Tulipe may be shut by new neighbour's noise complaints, owners say

One of Montreal's cultural mainstays, with a history going back more than a century, is under a new kind of threat, its owners say -- one becoming familiar these days to many of the city's venues.

La Tulipe, a mid-sized venue at the corner of Papineau Ave. and Mont-Royal Ave., has a new neighbour who doesn't like all the noise, its owners wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.

The problem is, La Tulipe was there first, by far -- the spot has been used as some kind of theatre or cultural venue since 1913, the statement said.

The spot is named after a M. Latulippe who owned the original theatre. It opened in its current form, named after him, almost 20 years ago.

Just two years ago, for the first time, the venue got a residential neighbour. Someone bought the adjacent property, turned it from a commercial space to a residential one, and moved in, those at La Tulipe said.

The city has since told the venue that that never should have happened, the statement claimed.

"The City of Montreal... authorized it in error (by its own admission)," said the Twitter statement.

After moving in, the new neighbour began to file many noise complaints, the statement said.

The statement by the owners of La Tulipe circulated on social media Tuesday night, with many Montrealers saying the news took them by surprise.

The venue owners said there is an imminent risk of closure that goes beyond running out of money -- though they said they've spent "a fortune" on fees to defend their position, fines as big as $1,000 each, and dozens of visits from police to respond to the noise complaints.

"We got police visits for every show," about noise complaints, said La Tulipe president Claude Larivée.

They're now heading into a court date on Dec. 21 over an application for an injuction against the venue, which could force it to close without conditions, they said.

"We've appealed to the City of Montreal in vain," said the owners, later calling the situation "Kafkaesque"

"La Tulipe is classified as a heritage building by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Quebec. We can't transform this place into a pharmacy or condo."

The Plateau's borough mayor, Luc Rabouin, responded on Tuesday night, also on Twitter, saying the city isn't ready to let the venue close.

"La Tulipe Theater is here to stay. The cultural vitality of the Plateau is an asset to be preserved," Rabouin wrote, in French.

"We have had several discussions with the owners and are closely monitoring the legal proceedings underway between the two private parties. A solution will emerge."

He admitted fault on Wednesday in an interview with CTV News.

"So the first thing we have to do is not to allow a residential permit just beside a site like that. We did it, wrongly, so we tried to correct it, so this is what we're doing,” he said. 

Rabouin said the borough is supporting the theatre by trying to contact the residents next door.

"It's why we have to talk with them and we are starting some procedures regarding that, and we have to negotiate," he said.

A few people said on Twitter the city needs to act more strongly to help venues keep operating.

Other longtime venues have faced similar problems in the past, even on busy, commercial strips, as residential or commercial properties are bought and transformed, and the new residents clash with the old. Many have lost in these conflicts, ultimately closing.

Les Bobards, on St. Laurent Blvd., was one example -- it was inundated with noise complaints and closed in 2015.

The following year, Inspecteur Épingle on the Eastern Plateau closed for the same reason after 25 years in operation, with the owner telling Eater Montreal at the time that he suspected the complaints were from people staying at new Airbnbs.

Most well-known, perhaps, was Divan Orange, also on St. Laurent, whose managers told media they got 85 noise complaints from the same neighbour in a two-month span, tallying up thousands in fines. They ultimately closed, though the reasons were complicated.