A permanent injunction that forced the closure of the century-old Montreal concert hall La Tulipe was overturned by a Quebec Superior Court judge on Friday. In a 27-page ruling, Justice Patrick Ferland said the injunction was “null and void” because the municipal noise bylaw on which it was based has since been amended to exempt concert halls like La Tulipe. “The Court therefore grants the defendants’ request and declares that the amendments to the noise bylaw, which took effect on Oct. 8, 2024, rendered the injunction issued against them on Sept. 23, 2024, null and void,” Ferland wrote. The owners of La Tulipe have been involved in a lengthy legal battle over noise complaints, which led to police visits, fines and a lawsuit, after Pierre-Yves Beaudoin, who bought the adjacent building in 2016, launched proceedings in 2020. Beaudoin had asked the court to leave the injunction in place, arguing that the noise from La Tulipe constituted a “neighbourhood disturbance.” The court said Beaudoin should have filed a new injunction application specifying the measures he wanted enforced and the legal grounds for them. In a 2023 Superior Court decision, the venue, located at the corner of Papineau Avenue and Mont-Royal Avenue, was ordered to soundproof the shared wall between the two buildings. At the time, the owners said they could not carry out the work because Beaudoin was appealing and the judgment had just been handed down the previous day. La Tulipe initially shuttered after the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled it could no longer make any noise. The closure prompted an outcry from prominent musicians, comedians and other cultural figures, who published an open letter denouncing the court’s decision. A protest was also held in front of the concert hall the same day the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough amended its noise bylaw to allow venues like La Tulipe to produce some noise, provided it does not exceed certain decibel levels or become excessive. In a written statement, the owners of La Tulipe said they would not be commenting on Justice Ferland’s decision, noting that the issue was far from resolved. With files from CTV Montreal’s Joe Lofaro and The Canadian Press.
