Quebec City’s Colisée arena is more than a relic of the city’s hockey history for Nicole Bouchard.
While it was home to many of Quebec’s most famous teams, including the Aces, Citadelles, Remparts and Nordiques, it was also where Bouchard got her first internship and job.
The assistant general manager of the Quebec Remparts, she says the amphitheatre is more like her second home.
“This is where I started my career a long time ago in 1981,” said Bouchard. “I spent over 30 years walking in[to] that building.”
On Monday, the city confirmed it will soon be demolished.
Mayor Bruno Marchand’s administration is considering the future of the Colisée de Québec, formerly known as the Colisée Pepsi. In its place, the city wants to propose a mixed-use real estate project for the neighbourhood, which would include housing.
“It’s hard to believe that that building will disappear,” said Bouchard. “It’s part of the history of the city.”
She worked in the arena until the Remparts moved out in 2015 when the amphitheatre was replaced with an 18,000-seat neighbouring arena known as the Vidéotron Centre.
Since then, the Colisée has been sitting empty.
“Even if there was nothing in [it] since 2015, that’s a building full of history and I don’t think you can just blow it down and just forget about it,” said Bouchard.
The building was constructed in 1949 and enlarged in 1980.
In 2000, for its 50th anniversary, former NHL stars Jean Béliveau, Guy Lafleur and Peter Stastny gathered at the Colisée for a special ceremony.
Stastny recalled scoring a goal with only one glove on in 1985. He said the “roof lifted off the auditorium.”
‘We’ll be able to commemorate it,’ says city
City councillor Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc, responsible for heritage in Quebec City, says the building has been used for storage purposes since 2015.
“I understand the public’s attachment to the Colisée, and I think we’ll be able to commemorate it,” said Coulombe-Leduc.
“We hesitated far too much over the past 15 years, ever since we knew the Vidéotron Centre was going to be built.”
Coulombe-Leduc says the city considered doing partial demolitions to keep aspects of the older structure. In the end, she says demolishing the newer structure from 1980 to keep the older one would considerably alter the heritage of the building.
“We keep everything, or we deconstruct,” said Coulombe-Leduc. “The longer we wait, the more expensive it will be, both technically and environmentally.”
She estimates that the structure will be dismantled over a two-year period — the costs of which would exceed $20 million.
Richard Martel has amassed hours, if not days, in Quebec City’s beloved arena over the years.
It’s where he watched hockey games, rock concerts and skipped school to line up for tickets. It’s the place his dad would drop him off at 7 a.m. so the teen could line up to secure a spot closest to the stage.
“[He was] a cool dad just [to] drive me there with my friends,” he said. “There were people who slept all night long to get tickets.”
“My dad was more into classical music, so, rock he didn’t like that a lot,” he said with a chuckle.
Martel estimates he’s seen 300 shows in the Colisée — his first when he was just 13 years old.
Though he says the building’s demolition was inevitable, he’s “kind of sad,” to see it go.
“I’ve got great memories,” he said.
