A true emblem of the Old Port of Montreal, it is difficult to miss the Silo # 5, a gigantic concrete structure south of McGill Street. The complex consists of 206 silos and an amalgam of buildings built over a period of more than fifty years,...
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 cameras. The adventurers are also denounced and prosecuted. Here, the owner does not laugh with those who venture on his property. The vandals who came last spring also have their portrait prominently on the exterior walls.
Originally, the company was the owner of a mill on the site, and then, with the grow of the production, pulp manufacturing forces the construction of a hydroelectric dam to minimize costs.
The upstream basin, resulting from the construction of the dam, was used to accumulate logs. Unloaded higher up the river, they are thus transported to the factory from which they are removed from the water via canals constructed for this purpose. They are then cut in equal length and according to the time of year, are sent to the factory or stacked until they are processed. For its part, the bark was stored in a large concrete silo in order to be used to heat the plant during the winter.
Known as a old stingy, it was said that the first owner has hidding a lot of money in its safe in his office and in is own house located in the front of the plant. He preferred to keep his fortune close to him. It was said to be inconvenient, always complaining about his employees and their cigarette breaks. Even after selling the factory, he came often to visit and did not hesitate to reprimand his former workers.
Today, nothing hapen on the site. Nevertheless, the current owner is looking for an energy-intensive company that would like to operate the site. The possibility of producing its own electricity is certainly its greatest advantage, but its remoteness from the large urban centers belongs to explaining it, partly less, why the site is still unoccupied, almost fifteen years after its final closure.
A true emblem of the Old Port of Montreal, it is difficult to miss the Silo # 5, a gigantic concrete structure south of McGill Street. The complex consists of 206 silos and an amalgam of buildings built over a period of more than fifty years,...
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...
It can not be said that the place is in a good shape. The water infiltrates through every small hole in the roof to the point of offering on this cold winter night a skating rink on each floor. Moreover, the ice must make more than eight...
Update (2013-08-23) : Many thanks to those who sent me some information about this place. So, it seems like this building was used to heat other buildings of the military complex who is now abandoned.
It is rather unusual that I can not...