Its fate has been pending since its closure in 2015, but the Colisée de Québec should finally know a little more about what the future holds for it this week. What do those who made rain and shine there think of it during the Nordic era? Are they nostalgic for the place and do they hope that what was their second home will remain standing, with a new purpose?
• Also read: Heritage: moratorium called for on the future of the Colisée de Québec
• Also read: Fate of the Colisée de Québec: the Urban Planning Commission will study two scenarios
Or have they turned the page and are living just fine with the fact that the Colosseum could be demolished?
The Quebec City Planning and Conservation Commission (CUCQ) has until Friday to give its opinion on the future of the building erected in 1949. It must study two scenarios: its partial or complete demolition.
• Also read: “The most beautiful day of my life”: Michel Bergeron and other Nordics recount their fondest memories of the Coliseum
• Also read: Keeping a useless arena for 10 years, we see it right here
However, this is not prescriptive advice. This will be used to fuel the consultation on the future of the north-east sector of ExpoCité, which means that the saga of the Coliseum could still continue.
While waiting for the outcome, The Journal surveyed seven former members of the Nordiques to find out their views on the issue.
Photo archives, Journal de Québec
Like the old Chicago Stadium for Michel Goulet
Like many former Nordics, Michel Goulet will feel a pang in his heart the day the Coliseum, where he filled the opposing net so much, disappears. However, he experienced a similar situation in Chicago and for the former great scorer, it is only time that does its work.
After 11 seasons in Quebec, including four with more than 50 goals, the “Gou” was traded to the Blackhawks in 1990. He ended his career after four full seasons in Chicago, in 1994.
Archive photo, Le Journal
At the same time, Chicago Stadium, venerable home of the Blackhawks since 1929, closed its doors.
Unlike Quebec, where we procrastinated over the fate of the Coliseum for years, Chicago Stadium was razed in 1995 to make way for parking for the team’s new amphitheater.
“The world in Chicago was ready to move on. The former supporters, that was their place and they didn’t want any change, but once the change was made, they saw why.
“If they decide to demolish the Coliseum, it hurts a little, but I experienced it in Chicago. When you look at the history of this arena, it was a bit like Quebec. Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Denis Savard played there. It always hurts my heart to see something even leave, but on the other hand, it’s what gives the other arena the chance to create its own history,” mentioned Goulet.
A history to preserve
Since the end of his career, the former number 16 of the Nordiques has resided in Colorado. Far from him, therefore, the idea of suggesting to the City of Quebec what to do with the Coliseum. However, he believes that the rich history of the place must be preserved.
“The Colisée is quite the history of hockey in Quebec. Some incredible players have been there. There is surely a way to bring the history of the Colisée to life in a place at the Videotron Center. There is a relationship between the two.
“It would be a way of not completely saying goodbye to the Colosseum. By going to see a Remparts game at the Videotron Center, there would still be a way to relive the history of hockey in Quebec,” he argues.
– Stéphane Cadorette
“It’s too late,” regrets Michel Bergeron
Michel Bergeron will never forget his Coliseum. The one where he arrived around 5 or 6 a.m. on training days, only to leave around 5 p.m. The smell of hot dogs. “The Coliseum smelled like hockey!” launches the Tiger, who, as if it really needed to be remembered, led the Nordiques there from 1980 to 1987, then in 1989-1990.
“Bergie” would have liked that, from the inauguration of the Videotron Center, the Colisée had been used for minor hockey. “The facilities were there,” he pleads. But now I understand that it is too late.”
Archive photo, Le Journal
So much so that the ex-coach believes that if it has to be demolished, the vacant space must be used by people who need it. Why not low-cost apartments, given the housing shortage, he suggests.
However, one thing remains certain: the day when the building which formerly housed the Nordiques will be razed, if that day arrives, Michel Bergeron will be overwhelmed with emotions. Probably a lot more than any other alumni of the organization we spoke to.
“All my memories will flash through my head. I spent nine years of my life there.”
– Jessica Lapinski
“We have been fooling ourselves for too long”: Dave Pichette deplores the lack of vision for the Coliseum
Pay a small fortune to destroy the Colosseum or pay a small fortune to find a purpose for it after years of inaction? This is the question, which Dave Pichette struggles to answer.
The president of the Association of Former Nordics is sorry that the file could drag on like this.
“I don’t think the Coliseum is a lost cause, but from what I understand it costs quite a lot to operate. They paid a fee and it hasn’t been used for nine years. We have been fooling ourselves for too long. There has been practically nothing in it all this time,” he lamented.
Least worst solution
The problem is that after nine years of being practically deserted, the Colosseum no longer inspires major projects.
Pichette, like many others, therefore came to the conclusion that the right thing to do was to demolish it, but reluctantly.
“People say that in Montreal, they made cinemas and lots of things with the old Forum, but it’s right in the city center. We are not talking about the same attraction in the area where the Colisée is located in Quebec.
“It’s going to cost a lot to bring down the Colosseum, to get what? One hundred more parking spaces? It’s not as if there’s a lack of parking nearby,” he noted.
The former defender, who worked with the Nordiques from 1980 to 1983, would have appreciated that a real overhaul of the Coliseum had been imagined before its closure.
“There’s a history in the town with the amphitheater and it would have given people an extra ice cream. If you don’t do anything with it, it’s not okay to leave it there either. Put it down or open it up to do something with it,” he said.
– Stéphane Cadorette
‘Like my mother’s insides’: Steven Finn nostalgic about seeing the Colosseum demolished
After playing 10 seasons and more than 600 games in a Nordiques uniform, former defender Steven Finn sees the Coliseum as if it were literally part of him, a bit like a mother figure.
“Entering the Colosseum is like my mother’s insides,” he imagined.
“I got there, I was a teenager. I had my three children in Quebec and I left the Coliseum having become a man. I still remember what it smelled like when I returned there, through the northwest entrance, with the supporters waiting for us. I remember going down to the locker room. I talk about it and I get chills. We’re talking about the best years of my life,” he continued.
No winning solution
Finn made his first skate with the Nordiques in 1985 and remained with the team until his fateful departure for Denver in May 1995.
The Colosseum therefore has enormous sentimental value for him, but he is resigned to the fact that it has exceeded its useful life.
“I don’t know what makes the most sense in terms of financial analyzes and we can only trust the people in place. For us, the former players and loyal supporters of the Nordiques, we certainly expect to experience difficult and emotional times.
“People pay taxes and they are entitled to a return on their investment. Could we find a vocation for this building? That would be my biggest wish. But if the solution is to demolish it, I will trust the people who are paid to make these decisions,” he expressed.
– Stéphane Cadorette
“It has to go,” pleads André Savard
André Savard does not classify himself in the nostalgic category. At least, not when it comes to the future of the Colisée, even if he cherished all the years he played in Quebec, whether with the Remparts or with the Nordiques.
“It has to go!” says the former striker who became a coach, then a recruiter. “The truth is, it’s not pretty enough. […] We have to move on.”
Archive photo, Le Journal
Mr. Savard believes that the land should now be used for something else. “There is no shortage of space [à cet endroit]», he points out.
The 71-year-old does not need the Coliseum to remain in place for the memories he created there to remain alive and well. “They are not going to disappear,” says Mr. Savard. Those who played hockey before us didn’t always see their arena standing. Things are changing.”
Even more so, notes André Savard, that the Videotron Center exists. “We are lucky,” he believes.
– Jessica Lapinski
Alain Côté and Marc Tardif ready to move on
The players who have the most vibrant memories of the Coliseum are often those who played with the Nordiques in the AMH and the NHL. This is the case of Marc Tardif and Alain Côté, who revere their second home, but who are ready to say goodbye.
Tardif joined the Nordiques in 1974, he who was one of the “bad” defectors from the NHL to the cursed circuit. He finished second in AMH scoring with 666 points in five seasons, before adding four more seasons in Quebec in the NHL.
Côté was part of the last two editions of the AMH Nordiques, before representing the team for 10 more years in the NHL.
For both of them, the Colosseum represents a large part of their lives, but they do not see how to give a second life to the amphitheater.
“There is the Videotron Center right next door. If they could find a way to use the Coliseum to give ice cream to minor hockey, that would be great, but it would be very expensive. It already costs an arm and a leg to keep the amphitheater in place with nothing to do in it,” reflected Côté.
Sentimental value
In the eyes of the man who was nicknamed the “ox of Matane”, we must face the facts and stop living in the past.
“At a given moment, of course we have beautiful memories there, but if it doesn’t help, it doesn’t help. It would be more sentimental than anything else to keep it,” he said.
The observation is the same on the side of Marc Tardif. The latter, before joining the Nordiques, had won two Stanley Cups with the Canadian in 1970-1971 and 1972-73, in the legendary Forum.
“In Montreal, they closed the Forum, they went to the Bell Center and that was the end of it. For Quebec, things should have happened the same way,” he believes.
“I experienced exceptional moments at the Colosseum, but should we keep it because of the memories? Keeping an empty building alive is very expensive. Unless we use it for another purpose, but what?” he asked himself.
– Stéphane Cadorette
