The old Gazette building on St. Antoine
The Gazette’s Mike King has an article in today’s paper about Le Westin Montréal, 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