Taking another step in lighting Montreal’s cultural heart

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After winning five awards for its pilot project, the Quartier des spectacles Partnership is happy to announce that the first phase of the Quartier des spectacles Lighting Plan is now fully funded, thanks to a significant financial contribution of $1.5 million from the City of Montreal and the Quebec ministère des affaires municipales et des régions.

This financing will allow the Partnership to complete the architectural lighting component of the first phase in 2009. Several architectural and dramatic lighting concepts have been designed, and eight of them will be realized, such as the Maison du Jazz, Place des Arts, the Musée d’art contemporain, the Cinémathèque québécoise and the new Société des arts technologiques (SAT) project, along with the improvement of the existing concepts of Métropolis, Club Soda and the Monument-National. In addition, special projects have been realized as part of this framework, such as the permanent interactive dynamic outdoor screen of La Vitrine – a North American first – and the ideas competition for the illumination of the Gesù façade.

The new financial assistance follows the support presented by the City of Montreal in 2008 to complete the luminous signature component of the first phase. This contribution of $1.5 million allows the Partnership to install the second-generation version of the luminous signature – the distinctive red dots, which have now become dynamic – outside most performance halls in the neighbourhood. In addition, 80 signature red dots (from 20 fixtures) have already appeared in front of Place des Arts last June, and another 800 (from 200 fixtures) will be unrolled across the sidewalks outside of 18 performance halls between now and the end of the year. 50 more fixtures (200 red dots) will be added in 2010. These investments leverage the contributions from performance halls and other cultural venues, which made up roughly $1.5 million of the first phase of the Lighting Plan.

The Quartier des spectacles Partnership thanks all of its partners who have contributed and contribute to making the Lighting Plan a success.

Vice-president of the Partnership and president of the lighting comitee, Jacques K. Primeau, Minister Christine St-Pierre of the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine, Mayor Gérald Tremblay and Charles Lapointe, president of the Partnership, at the press Conference.