The historic Empress Theatre building in the Notre-Dame de Grace borough is to be sold for redevelopment.
The city of Montreal announced earlier this week that the iconic building on the corner Old Orchard Ave and Sherbrooke West, which has been decommissioned since 1992 after a fire, is now up for sale for mixed use development. The director of Montreal’s real estate strategy department Annie Gerbeau stated quote “The Empress Theatre has undergone a financial analysis that will allow us to proceed with a sale shortly.”
There’s no word yet on who the building might go to, but it will be residential with at least 20 per cent non market housing on site. This announcement marks an end to a long history of neighborhood efforts to preserve the building and get it running as a theatre again.
CJLO spoke with community members about their memories about the theatre, and their hopes for the future of landmark building.
