In 1981, the debt-ridden Compagnie Paquet was forced to close. Other establishments soon followed suit. As a result, the downtown shopping centre was left with many vacant storefronts, and certain shops were converted into housing. Since it was still a street, its doors were never closed and so the mall became a refuge day and night for the most unfortunate.

1974 - 2012

Decline and revitalization of the downtown Saint-Roch district

The Saint-Roch district in downtown Québec City faced the same destiny as many other North American urban centres. At the end of the 1960s, the commercial artery in the Saint-Roch district gradually emptied as new shopping centres sprung up in the suburbs. To counter the decline of this downtown area, an open-air mall, the Mail Saint-Roch, was inaugurated in 1968 on Saint-Joseph Street. In 1974, more than a kilometre of the mall was covered with a roof. However, popular preference for suburban shopping soon made the area obsolete. In the 1990s and 2000s, a new effort of innovative architectural and social initiatives was made to revitalize this neglected downtown area.

The stores in the Mail Saint-Roch

Auteur inconnu In 1981, the debt-ridden Compagnie Paquet was forced to close. Other establishments soon followed suit. As a result, the downtown shopping centre was left with many vacant storefronts, and certain shops were converted into housing. Since it was still a street, its doors were never closed and so the mall became a refuge day and night for the most unfortunate.

Chronoscope Do you have any memories of this period? (unilingual French for a limited time)

Depicted period: 1976

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