Canada Malting Silos, Montreal, Industrial silos in Saint-Henri, Montreal, Canada.
Canada Malting Silos is an abandoned malting factory on the Lachine Canal in Saint-Henri, designed by David Jerome Spence and built in 1904. Nine silos on the west side are clad in violet treated clay tiles made by Barnett and Record Co. of Minneapolis; cement silos on the other side were added in the 1940s to store barley. A dark concrete tower topped by a small faded magenta penthouse rises beside the silos, its upper walls covered in white graffiti.
Designed by David Jerome Spence, the Canada Malting complex was built in 1904, with nine violet clay-tiled silos on its west side and cement silos added in the 1940s to store barley. The plant produced 250,000 pounds of malt a year for distilleries and breweries. After the Lachine Canal closed in 1970, transport shifted to rail; around 1980 the company moved to a new complex at 205 Riverside and Mill Street. The building was sold for $500,000, served as a soya and corn store for Quonta Holding Ltd, and was abandoned in 1989 when Canadian National ended rail service.
Since 2019 the roof of the site has carried the Little Pink House, a small cabin painted bright pink in October 2019, later given green shutters, curtains, planters, a Christmas tree and a giant gift labelled "À Saint-Henri, de : Little Pink". The adjacent cabin was painted bright red. The artist behind it refuses contact with journalists.
The site is currently closed to public access and surrounded by security fencing to prevent entry. Visitors can still view and photograph the structures from outside the perimeter, especially from along the canal towpath.
In May 2005, for the Obsolescences event and the building's centenary, lighting artist Axel Morgenthaler mounted strobe lights and green and red lights on the north and south towers, echoing the site's link to the Lachine waterway. Journalists toured the interior in hard hats with flashlights, organised by Quartier Éphémère.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,632 contributors worldwide.