“It's Stupid”: A Temporary Bar Is Installed In Montreal… In Front Of An Existing Bar

A Montreal bar owner is furious after Nuit Blanch set up a makeshift bar directly in front of his establishment in the middle of the weekend.

“This lack of planning is unacceptable. With 30% vacancies on the street, you can't tell me there isn't a better place to put this bar,” criticizes Sergio da Silva, owner of Turbo Haus on the line. Denis in the bar -Latin Quarter on rue St.

From Friday, the street is closed to host the second edition of “Apik”, a free event that mixes board sports, dance and alcohol.

Although “Apik” invites participants on its website to frequent the bars of rue Saint-Denis, it also sells its own alcohol, notably in a temporary bar with a terrace.

The problem is that this bar is installed directly in front of Turbo Haus, which is hoping to be especially busy this weekend with Nuit Blanche.

“very inviting”

“I woke up early in the morning and there was a bar in front of my bar,” Mr da Silva summed up. It's beyond stupid.”

According to him, the current arrangement makes his establishment “very uninviting” and makes him fear losing thousands of dollars in sales.

“Right now, in front of my bar, it looks like a behind the scenes [arrière-scène] And you shouldn’t be there,” he lamented.

Mr da Silva maintained that he had not been consulted on the facilities plan.

“I understand that these events are for our benefit, but I'm sure many bars on the street would have been happy to set up their own little kiosk outside to raise some money,” he argued.

Well planned, says SDC

The Latin Quarter Commercial Development Corporation (SDC) championed the planning of the event, which had “months” of collaboration.

“Certain logistical and security constraints of this scale, in this section of rue Saint-Denis, limit the possibilities of the location of a temporary bar,” explained general director Rachel van Velzen via email. Since the beginning of the year, merchants in the Latin Quarter have been regularly informed about the event through various communication platforms, particularly highlighting street alcohol sales.

In an interview with the Journal, Ms. Van Velzen made it clear that alcohol must be sold to ensure financing for the event.

Further, she pointed out that municipal bureaucracy makes it impossible for bars to open their own kiosks.

Of course, to do this, we need to submit a request to the Ville-Marie district in March 2023, before we even know if Apik is going to return for a second year.

However, Ville-Marie Borough recently revised its rules to create a September deadline for winter events.

The City of Montreal did not immediately respond to interview requests from the Journal Saturday evening.

Apik, the company, declined our interview request.