DAMAGE CONTROL
Engraved bricks will go into storage until a new outdoor plaza is built, but fans don’t seem to mind.
When construction starts on the condo tower beside the Bell Centre, the 12,000 engraved bricks that line the same spot will be removed and carted away for probably close to three years.
Ditto for the four statues in Centennial Plaza of Canadiens’ legends Howie Morenz, Jean Béliveau, Maurice Richard and Guy Lafleur.
To protect them from damage, the bricks bought by fans won’t resurface until after the 48-storey tower is built — work that is expected to take about 30 months. The developers hope construction is underway by next spring or summer.
For the Canadiens, the new condo project in which they are a partner means uprooting and finding a new, permanent outdoor home for the plaza they unveiled with fanfare just four years ago.
The Canadiens won’t reveal the plaza’s future site adjacent to the Bell Centre. (They hope to make an announcement soon.) One of the likely spots is the courtyard space between the Bell Centre and Windsor Station — a good chunk of which the Canadiens own.
“It was very important for us when we looked at where to relocate Centennial Plaza to ensure that it remains a very important and powerful symbol of attachment and support of our fans toward their hockey club,” Kevin Gilmore, the Canadiens’ chief operating officer said last week.
Fans paid from $175 to $799 plus tax for the bricks with personalized messages and also received a replica. They also helped directly fund the building of the plaza, the club noted in a statement to fans in July about the move.
The plaza wasn’t created with the idea of making a profit and, in fact, has been a money-losing proposition from the start, said Donald Beauchamp, the Canadiens’ senior vice-president, communications and community relations.
“It was extremely expensive to build it and it’s even more now to move it,” Beauchamp said.
The plaza’s current location is on land owned by Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd., one of the developers in the Tour des Canadiens condo project. But at the time when it was launched there was no development on the radar screen, Beauchamp said.
The agreement that brickbuyers signed contained a provision that said the location of the plaza was subject to change, Beauchamp added. It said the club couldn’t guarantee the preservation of the plaza beyond July 1, 2018.
When the condo project came along, Beauchamp said the Canadiens’ majority owner, Geoff Molson, had two things on his mind — that the plaza needed to be preserved and permanent.
“It’s going to be a first-class operation,” Beauchamp said of the new plaza.
One mid-afternoon this week, a few people snapped photos in the plaza as commuters hurried through en route to the Lucien L’Allier train station.
The bricks are fun to read — a glimpse of history and shared passion for the team. Some mention memorable games they attended — like Kelly Mounce of Ottawa, who bought standing-room tickets from scalpers with her friends in 1993 and watched the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.
Like several brickholders contacted by The Gazette, Mounce wasn’t riled by the relocation, saying she understands why they’re doing it.
“You’ve got to maximize your property downtown and that sort of stuff,” Mounce said.
“I’m a little disappointed because my brick is so easy to find. Several of my friends have them and we’ve not found their bricks yet. Every game we go to we do like another row,” she said with a laugh.
The brick that Mike Sabodach bought was a surprise for his daughter.
“I guess I kind of brain- washed her into being a Habs fan along the way,” Sabodach said from his home in Hamilton, Ont.
The inscription on their brick is a more succinct version of the rub-it-in-their face chant once popular with Habs’ fans: “Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye.” Sabodach was thrilled to discover it was located in the cluster of bricks near the statue of his favourite player, Jean Béliveau.
That was his only disappointment when the Habs announced they were going to move the bricks, said Sabodach, who wondered “is it still going to be with my childhood hero?”
“I couldn’t have picked a better spot for it, to be honest.”