The Gazette’s Mike King has an article in today’s paper about Le Westin MontrĂ©al, the new hotel that’s in the building that formerly housed the newspaper. It acknowledges the building’s roots with a restaurant/lounge called Gazette and a bar called Reporter.
Andy Riga also has a blog post about the hotel, which is nothing like the formerly smoke-filled newsroom and printing presses. The Gazette moved to its current location at Peel and Ste. Catherine in 2003, two years before I started working there.
The building’s “roots” are actually The Montreal Star.
Dear Steve,
Smoking went on right through the ’90s — at least in the south wing, where I worked in the Gazette preweb new-media dept. Right through the lamented Southam days.
I think the newsroom had gone no smoke earlier – i.e., early ’90s – as the likeable Paul Juhl liked to pop in for a few hurried butts with a local honcho, Liz Metcalf. Funny, there was no thought of the nonsmoking majority; nor did we much complain. One can adapt to nearly anything – by which I mean the nonsmoking office.
Yours,
JD