Montreal’s popular and only sports hub dedicated to women and families is looking for a new home after noise complaints forced it to shut down abruptly earlier this month.
After opening last December to much fanfare, Le Nadia Guinguette Sportive announced the closure of their location on Ontario Street East in Hochelaga on May 1.
“It happened super quick,” says Catherine D. Lapointe, co-founder of Le Nadia. “It’s because of administration things that we didn’t have any control over it.”
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“We just (had) a few days to ask for advice of what’s that situation and we took the decision that was the best for the project, the mission and the community,” Lapointe added.
The closure came even as the excitement around the Montreal Victoire’s chances at the Walter Cup and Habs fever have gripped the city.
Monday night the Victoire face Minnesota in a winner-take-all Game 5 with a spot in the Walter Cup Final on the line, exactly the kind of high-energy playoff moment that would likely have made Le Nadia one of the city’s busiest spots.
“People reach out for us like, ‘oh, do you know if there’s somewhere else, we can go?’” says Lapointe, adding that they were trying to open a temporary space for the games, even as the search for a permanent location continues.
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“For now, there’s kind of a grief around the fact that there’s no way where we can be together for a gather for a female sport,” Lapointe says.
She pointed out that Le Nadia was always more than a bar.
“Le Nadia was operating under a restaurant license, it was super family-oriented,” Lapointe explained. “There was a table for changing diapers, a children menu, we put so much energy in having non-alcoholic drinks (…) Because we didn’t want to reproduce what was under a sports bar.”
Lapointe said that despite their efforts to create an inclusive space and in getting the alcohol permits from the City, the noise complaints came anyway.
“We really worked in collaboration with the landlord to try to find a solution for the noise,” Lapointe explained. “It didn’t get through a solution in the end.”
In a statement to CityNews, Chantal Ganon, mayor of the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, said, “Following compliance issues related to noise, the co-founders have decided to relocate their activities to another site. We will support them in their efforts to find a more suitable location.”
Lapointe says complying with the current noise bylaws would be near impossible, unless the borough made changes like the recent reforms announced by the borough of Plateau-Mont-Royal.
“The only way to be sure that noise it’s not heard outside of walls would be to build a box in a box,” she said. “(The borough) understands that there’s something there, but when someone complains… they have to go because there’s a rule,” she said.
In the wake of the closure, the borough said it will revisit its bylaws.
“We are reviewing the noise bylaw to make it more flexible and better reflect the cultural vibrancy of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.”
Lapointe says she is encouraged by some of the new nightlife policies announced by the City last month.
“I think the city has a great vision of what will be next,” she said. “I think Article 9 doesn’t really work considering that there’s so many old buildings too.”
