It's over 92 years of industrial history that ended in 2004 when the Spexel factory was closed down. The story of this plant start in 1912 when is built the paper mill, which took the name of Howard Smith Paper Mill. Over the following years, the...
Its architecture reminds of the old ramparts of Quebec instead the image to which one is accustomed to power plants.
Yet it is part of this canadian architectural style of the late nineteenth and much of the twentieth century. One of the few industrial buildings inspired by the architectural wave, by cons. Built in a little less than a year in 1899, the building was divided into three parts: the machinery was in the central portion; left were the quarters of the workers and warehouse was located to the right. Today, the three divisions remain, but while the central part has been emptied of its contents, the two wings have been converted into apartments. The rooms are small and the stairs are narrow and the floor could collapse at any time under the weight of visitors.
Historic monument since 2007, the building now belongs to the city who wishes to promote this building with a project to be defined. Although it does not seem to have any water infiltration, its structure is not in a good shape. Many bricks threaten to collapse in several places, the floors are dangerously wavy and many stilts have been added to the outer gallery to prevent it from sinking into the small marsh.
Real vestige of a era when electricity had not yet been nationalized, it is one of the last four hydroelectric plants that remain among the 87 built in Quebec before 1900. With the electricity produced, the plant was able to light and operate the different locks, swing bridges and weirs. The operation of the canal was therefore maximized and allow workers to manage the seaway during day and night.
The plant ceased operations in 1959.
It's over 92 years of industrial history that ended in 2004 when the Spexel factory was closed down. The story of this plant start in 1912 when is built the paper mill, which took the name of Howard Smith Paper Mill. Over the following years, the...
For the region, it is a vestige of an industrial era that is now over. Whereas in the past, the factory gave a salary to nearly a hundred employees, the complex is now padlocked and deserted, although monitored by about twenty surveillance...
So you might think the old Conveyor dock's tower straight out of the fourteenth century, but you're wrong. The pier on which it is located was built in 1956-1957 and was one of the last marine works at the port of Montreal before it does change...
For several times I passed by this little factory located in an old industrial area in the Eastern Townships, but I never been inside. Each time, I wondered if it was still active or abandoned. I must say that several tiles were broken, but I was...