Montreal Pool Room moves on Wednesday

The Montreal Pool Room is relocating on Wednesday. And no, it still won't anywhere to play pool. (March 30, 2010)

One of the best-known landmarks on the Main is moving this week.

The Montreal Pool Room has been under pressure to make way for the Quartier des Spectacles, and the owner of the century-old establishment decided to move.

The iconic Montreal eatery is considered to have the best steamies in town, and some, like customer Jacques Bisaillon, have been visiting the restaurant "two-three times a month for decades.

The Montreal Pool Room has changed a lot in its 98 years.

So has the face of the Main, which is now almost deserted because of expropriation to make way for the revitalized entertainment district.

The Pool Room was one of two holdouts on the stretch of St. Laurent between Rene Levesque and Ste. Catherine, the other being Cafe Cleopatre.

But after holding out for months, the owner decided not to renew his lease.

The owner of Cafe Cleopatre is still fighting expropriation, and has taken his battle to court.

"I'm sorry to see them move," said Johnny Zoumobulakis "I prefer to see them stay where they've been for about a hundred years."

Zoumbulakis says he's been offered more than $1 million to move, but for him, the issue is about more than money.

"What they're trying to do is not the Main that we knew," said Zoumbulakis. "As we know, nothing cultural grows at the the bottom of big buildings."

Customers won't have to look to far to find the new Montreal Pool Room. Its new digs are across the street, a few doors north.

As long as the food stays the same, customers promise to keep coming back, even if the nostalgia fades.