Why 111 Roy Street is right for us

Louise Markus and Grant Genova purchased 111 Roy St. (see image) in 1999. It had been built for food refrigeration and distribution (chicken and fish). Louise and Grant had a vision for an artist-run space that would support local artists and bring people together to explore their creativity through events, workshops and to participate and the ongoing evolution of the building as a work of art. They founded the Roy St. Collective and over the next 9 years, established a Montreal landmark, hosting thousands of people at art shows, concerts and ‘happenings’ in the space.

When Grant and Louise decided it was time to move on in 2008, they hand painted a for sale sign, hung it outside the building, and waited for the phone calls to come in. Members of the SR team, while taking a walk around the neighbourhood and taking note of interesting potential future addresses, came upon the sign and had a funny feeling that this might be the one for us.

The Roulant had a history with Grant and Louise. The Collective first opened their doors to us in 2002, offering a junk sculpture workshop as part of a community art and music festival we organized over the summer. At the same festival, a group of young graffiti artists working out of Roy St, turned our meals-on-wheels vehicle into a very unique, if slightly inappropriate for our community, work of art on wheels. 

We contacted Grant and Louise and through conversation, visits, professional assessments and expert opinions, confirmed the feeling we had when we first came upon the building and saw that it was for sale.

111 Roy St. is just less than 9,000 square feet, ample space to give our core programs room to breathe and room to grow into the future. It is situated in a neighbourhood with high pedestrian traffic, conveniently located for our volunteers and with the possibility to invest in measures to make our building, from basement to rooftop, accessible for community members with limited mobility. Its 3,300 square foot flat roof is ideal for gardening, and we have ample storage and compost space in the basement. Our new home is highly visible, and we are excited for our physical space to better reflect the organization we have become, and to share and work more with our community members and partners through this project.

The building’s history is the perfect combination of food and creativity for Santropol Roulant, and we can’t wait to add our layer to the story!