The Horrific Destruction of Burner Alley

"Politicians don't bring people together. Artists do."

–Richard Daley, Former Mayor of Chicago

Photo from MTL Blog

I woke up to some of the most horrible news I could possibly think of today. Burner Alley, a local independent alley beatification initiative from Montreal residents, artists and families, was bulldozed this Saturday without any warning.

Photo from CBC News

Burner Alley was not a "legally designated" green space, but after years of issues with garbage and unsafe drug use happening in it, the local residents and surrounding communities decided to do something with it. For over 8 years it has been a decorated and beautified community space where people gathered, met and created together.

Photo from CBC News

But that all changed on Saturday morning, when, without warning, city crews arrived with a bulldozer and ripped everything out of the alleyway. No resident backing the alley had been notified that the city was going to take such drastic measures. Many of the residents were away at the time, and with no warning to reclaim furniture or artwork in the alley, a huge amount of art and private property was just trashed and hauled away.

Photo from CBC News

Photo by Sarah Moser

"At least one complaint made to the city led to Saturday’s action. The city mailed a letter to residents last month asking them to “remedy the problematic situation at the alley.” The letter added residents are not permitted to store personal effects on public property.

On Saturday, the city workers removed the furniture and planters that were placed in the alleyway. Residents were able to salvage some tables and chairs.

“This is such a huge amount of resources directed at a bunch of plants,” Moser said. She added the city should have approached the residents to discuss a solution if there were complaints.

However, Alex Norris, the city councillor representing the Jeanne-Mance district where the alley is situated, defended the workers, saying they’re merely enforcing a bylaw."
-Jason Magder, Montreal Gazette.

"Luc de Montigny, his wife, Dao Nguyen, and their daughter Sen, walk down an alley leading to Napoléon St., between de l’Hôtel-de-ville and Laval Aves. The lane, popular with some residents in the area was cleared by a city crew in Montreal Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015. The lane had been filled with various items, including paintings by local children (some by Sen de Montigny), picnic tables and Muskoka chairs painted bright pink. "

JOHN KENNEY /MONTREAL GAZETTE

Dr. Simon Amar in alley, Photo by Owen Wiltshire

Burner Alley started about 8 years ago with the initiative of Dr. Simon Amar, a resident whose home backed the alley. The alleyway between Napoléon St. and l’Hôtel-de-ville is a strange L-shape, and has no garages backing the alleyway, which made it an unused and empty area. Because of its seclusion it was regularly used as a space for dangerous drug use. Simon, who worked with the Royal Victoria Hospital as a psychiatrist treating the heavily mental disabled, many of who lived on the street or had difficult drug problems, was extremely aware of the problems his alleyway posed.

After dutifully spending months picking up the needles he found in the alley, and repeatedly reporting the issues of this space to the police, Simon decided to take his own initiative and turn the space into an area the community would want to use, activating the space and solving the problem.

Alleyway before initiative, Photo from Spaces in Between

"The alley here was not like this at all," say Frederic Serre in an interview in the short film, Spaces in Between. "It was full of junk and needles, and addicts were using it as their little playground, and Simon kept picking up all the needles and going to the police station to file a report, and nobody seemed to care. So he said, "Fred, here's what we're going to do. We're going to clean up this alley and reclaim it. If the city's not doing anything with it, let's do something with it. Let's make something creative out of it." So, I thought, that's a crazy idea, but I think we're going to do it. So we just cleaned up the whole alley, and we put in art… We turned an alley that was a nothing dump, cleaned it up, and now people enjoy it."

Spaces In Between from Caitlin Mullen on Vimeo.

Photo from MTL Blog

For the last 8 years this alley has been a space where people gather, grow things, meet good people, play music, make art, and eat good food.

Photo by Me

It had a book lending library where people could exchange books. It had gardens where locals could grow food and flowers. (This year there were some of the most beautiful lilies I had ever seen.)

Photo from MTL Blog

It had neighbourhood barbecues and local meet up nights.

Photo by Owen Wiltshire

It held free art shows to display local artists.

Photo exhibition in Alley by Jamie Janx Jaohnston

It held fundraisers for major art projects.

Photo by Owen Wiltshire

It held small shows for local musicians.

Photo by Owen Wiltshire

It had events where kids could come and make art.

Photos by Murray Pearson

It had building projects and work days and alley cleanup weekends.

Photos by Me

Photo by Murray Pearson

Photo by Owen Wiltshire

This summer it even had a movie night once a week where the neighbours and their kids could watch a projection on the wall of the alley.

Photo from Justine Levesque

This alley had become a must-see of the local tours around the Plateau, and was often photographed.

Photos from MTL Blog

It had seating areas where people could just sit and enjoy a drink with their neighbours on a beautiful Montreal summer day.

Photo from MTL Blog

The lost of this local resource is a travesty. And the fact that the city did it without even notifying the residents so that they could remove art and possessions is just plain horrific. Destroying something beautiful because it doesn't follow policy is not what I want my tax dollars to go towards.

I moved to Montreal because I wanted to live somewhere that shared the values of community and creativity that I thought Montreal stood for. But this summer we've seen crack-downs all over the city like this, from shutting down the Music at the Gazebo which had a community of thousands, to police raiding the evening fire performance practice that has been going on in Parc la Fontaine for years, to limiting and banning busker performance on St. Catherine. These are not the values I want to see from my government.

Photos by Owen Wiltshire

Creativity requires an amount of flexibility and leniency. It should be guided and funded. And if it doesn't quite match the policies that are already in place, it should be up to the city to help those creating it come into alignment with that policy.

Instead of spending thousands of dollars sending in workers and equipment to rip something apart, the city could've easily disseminated the documents required to legally green that space. Then, with the free help of the local community who is already committed to that area, that space could've been brought up to city code for a fraction of the cost.

Photos by Murray Pearson

When it comes down to it, the city cannot pay for resources this this. This is the type of community participation and investment that cities should beg, borrow and steal to get to. It is the ultimate goal, a community that loves its space so much that they're willing to invest all of the time, energy and money it takes to maintain it.

Photo by Owen Wiltshire

Photos by Murray Pearson

Alex Norris, the city councillor representing the Jeanne-Mance district where the alley is situated, defended the city's action, and said the borough has a program to make alleyways green, but residents must follow official channels.

“I’m hoping the citizens can get together and propose such a project,” Norris said. “We will be enthusiastic supporters in such a project if they can rally support.” -Montreal Gasette

Photos by Derek Jones

What Mr. Norris doesn't address is the fact that just because something didn't follow policy, this beautiful community project went backwards in years, time, resources and moral. The likelihood of the community continuing to want to invest in this space, after such a violent and disheartening action from the city seems slim.

It will cost the city thousands of dollars just to implement what would be needed to bring this alley back to a green space, but there is no amount of money that can buy a community.

Photos by Derek Jones

As for whoever complained, yes, I know that art made by kids and young people isn't always the most professional looking, but that means that there are kids in that alley making art instead of people in that alley using drugs. I know that sometimes a local bbq can attract a lot of people, but that just means that your neighbours are talking to each other and building relationships.

Photo by Me

I know that some people see people gathering and think that it makes their neighbourhood less like they want it to be, but the fact is, having a strong community makes your neighbourhood safer, more beautiful, it keeps out those who have bad intentions and strengthens the bonds of the people who care about making your space better. So instead of complaining because something doesn't look quite the way that you're used to, why don't you get out there, meet some of your neighbours, and help make it into something that you do want to see?

The loss of this beautiful place just makes me so, so sad. I only hope that this community will be willing to rally back up and maybe make this place back into the place we loved and had so many memories in.