The Eaton's Ninth Floor Restaurant (known as "The Ninth Floor" or "Le 9e") is an endangered
Art deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
landmark in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
, Canada. It ceased operation in 1999 after 68 years, and not been open to the public since. This restaurant is a registered historical site.
History
Lady Eaton, the wife of the multi-millionaire owner of the
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...
department stores, gave her interpretation of "class and style" to the major
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...
stores. In 1925 Eaton's purchased the three storey
Goodwin building located at 677 Saint Catherine Street West and commissioned architects Ross & MacDonald to build it up to six storeys in 1927. The top three floors were added in 1930–31. On January 26, 1931, Lady Eaton opened a large art deco restaurant on the 9th floor of the building. The restaurant was designed by architect
Jacques Carlu
Jacques Carlu (7 April 1890 Bonnières-sur-Seine – 3 December 1976 Paris) was a French architect and designer, working mostly in Art Deco style, active in France, Canada, and in the United States.
Biography
Through the 1910s Carlu studied on ...
and
the floor to ceiling mural at the back of the restaurant was created by his wife
Natacha Carlu. It was patterned on dining hall of the transatlantic liner
''Ile de France''. The 9th floor corridor between the elevators and restaurant is also in the art deco style.
The waitresses and loyal customers of the restaurant were the subject of a 1998
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
documentary, ''Les Dames du 9e'' (''The Ladies of the 9th'').
Closure
Shortly following Eaton's bankruptcy, the restaurant closed on October 14, 1999. A bagpiper played "
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...
" to mark its end. After remaining vacant, the 9th floor restaurant was given heritage status by the Québec government. Plans for bringing the restaurant up to modern safety standards were drawn up by Fournier, Gersovitz, Moss et associés but never implemented.
Post-closure state
For nearly a quarter of a century, the former restaurant had sat behind locked doors and was slowly deteriorating. The dining room, lobby and bathroom area remained, but the kitchen had been demolished for office space. The current owners,
Ivanhoé Cambridge
Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. is a Canadian real estate company based in Montreal, Quebec. With assets around the globe, its areas of activity are investment, development, asset management, operations and leasing. The company's real estate portfolio c ...
, the real estate subsidiary of the
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in Quebec. CDPQ was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly, under the go ...
, had refused in the past to allow media or preservation groups to inspect the site. Urban explorers who trespassed the site in 2004, took photographs documenting its then poor condition. On February 12, 2014,
Heritage Montreal
Heritage Montreal is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the architectural, historic, natural, and cultural heritage of Greater Montreal. Architect Phyllis Lambert founded Heritage Montreal in 1975. It was preceded by Save ...
announced the restaurant was "under observation" due to the building's uncertain future. Adding to the uncertainty at the time, the former occupants of the site,
Les Ailes de la Mode
Les Ailes de la Mode Inc. was a Quebec department store chain. Its flagship store was in downtown Montreal and was the anchor tenant of the Complexe Les Ailes. Les Ailes de la Mode also subleased a section of their department stores to Bowring B ...
, went bankrupt and closed in 2014 (while since transformed into an extension of the
Montreal Eaton Centre
, image = Le Centre Eaton de Montréal - panoramio.jpg
, image_width = 260px
, caption = Interior of the Montreal Eaton Centre (2016)
, address = Montreal, QuebecH3B 4G5
, coordinates =
, opening_date = 1990
, developer =
, manager = Iv ...
, there had been no plans for the ninth floor). Ivanhoé Cambridge last opened the floor to CTV News in 2015, though the future of the floor space remained uncertain. In September 2019 preservation advocate Gérald McNichols Tétreault launched a petition to measure public interest in reviving the space. The building's owner reported that an estimated CA$15 million would be required to bring the space up to standards suitable for public use.
Planned reopening
In March 2023, Ivanhoe Cambridge, the owner of the Eaton Centre, announced the reopening of the iconic ninth Floor restaurant by the end of the year. The heritage conservation firm, EVOQ Architecture, will carry out the work to ensure preservation of its heritage, while bringing it up to current day standards. The re-imagined space will offer a restaurant, as well as a venue for shows and private events that can accommodate up to 500 people.
[https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/iconic-restaurant-atop-montreal-s-eaton-centre-set-to-open-later-this-year-1.6328521]
See also
*
Complexe Les Ailes
, image = Le Centre Eaton de Montréal - panoramio.jpg
, image_width = 260px
, caption = Interior of the Montreal Eaton Centre (2016)
, address = Montreal, QuebecH3B 4G5
, coordinates =
, opening_date = 1990
, developer =
, manager = Iv ...
*
The Carlu (Toronto)
The Carlu is an historic event space in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1930 and known as the eponymous "Eaton's Seventh Floor", the venue was restored and reopened in 2003, renamed for its original architect. The Carlu is one of Toronto's be ...
References
Other sources
*Anderson, Carol and Mallinson, Katharine. ''Lunch with Lady Eaton: Inside the Dining Rooms of a Nation'', Toronto: ECW Press, 2004.
*Cohen-Rose, Sandra. ''Northern Deco: Art Deco Architecture in Montreal''. Montreal: Corona Publishers,1996 Sandra Cohen-Rose.
*Martin, Catherine. ''The Ladies of the 9th Floor''. 60 minute film. Winner of the 1998 Telefilm Canada prize for short and medium length films.
External links
Art Deco Montreal - Photo of the Ninth Floor RestaurantNFB Web page for ''Les Dames du 9e'' (in French)Close up of floor to ceiling muralFinding aid for Ross & Macdonald Architects,
Canadian Centre for Architecture
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between r ...
Urban Exploration Montreal - A 2004 photo and video documentation of the abandoned 9th floor
{{coord, 45.50336, N, 73.5710, W, display=title
Art Deco architecture in Canada
Defunct restaurants in Montreal
Downtown Montreal
Eaton's
Landmarks in Montreal
Restaurants in Montreal