The Plant Montreal la plante renoviction
Music

Montreal music venue the Plant faces renoviction, needs public’s help

by Lorraine Carpenter

“We want to put this call out to everyone who’s supported us over the past 10 + years to help figure out what the future of the Plant might be. Nothing is off the table.”

On July 9, the collective that runs the underground Montreal music venue the Plant (aka la Plante) announced that the space might be ceasing operations permanently due to an impending renoviction. Today the collective sent out a newsletter elaborating on the situation and appealing to former inhabitants and supporters to get involved and share ideas to keep the space alive post-renovation.

“1)  Our landlord wants the Plant as we know it to move out by the end of August so he can renovate the space. (Exactly what this entails is somewhat unknown to us, but it may well include some much needed electrical, plumbing, floor, roof and ceiling work, as well as other work that we might not like, such as un-building some of our beloved walls of doors, kitchen, shelving, etc.).

2)  Current renters at the space are planning on vacating the space within that timeframe

3)   There is a conversation scheduled to happen over the next weeks with our landlord to discuss specific possibilities of taking back over the space after renovations have been done. This could possibly include some negotiation of the specifics of the renovation, as well as a negotiation on what the future rent might be.

4)   Point number 3) is necessarily contingent on us, i.e. “the Plant,” having a plan to move back into the space. There is currently no plan or group of people with such a plan to move forward with those conversations.

5)   All in all, this makes this a critical month for the future of the plant. The collective would like to involve anyone interested to consider exploring all wild possibilities we can collectively muster as to how the space might be continued in the future.”

The collective further appealed to anyone wanting to get involved in the future of the Plant in any way:

“After a decade of the Plant in the space we all know and love, something is certainly going to be changing. However, we still feel that the space, even in its uncertain new future form, is valuable to hang onto in the face of rampant gentrification, rising costs of studios, and collective space to be loud in.

“At a time when our city and scenes are facing the closure of many busy bars, lofts and venues, which have together provided an underground infrastructure and capacity for weird arts, experimentations and organizings, we want to put this call out to all of you who have inhabited and supported the Plant over the past 10 + years to to get in touch and bring any ideas, contacts, projects, fantasies, friends or proposals and help figure out what the future of the Plant might be. Nothing is off the table.”

Montreal music venue the Plant faces renoviction, needs public’s help

To get in touch with the Plant, please email laplante.theplant@gmail.com. For more updates, follow this account on Twitter.

For more Montreal music coverage, please visit the Music section.

Posted in Music

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.