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After 60 years, Bar Salon Chez Paul in Pierrefonds is closing its doors

Click to play video: 'Longtime Pierrefonds watering hole calls it quits'
Longtime Pierrefonds watering hole calls it quits
A beloved bar in Pierrefonds will close its doors for good in May. The owners of Bar Chez Paul tell Global News the 2017 spring floods were bad for business, which prompted them to sell. Global's Billy Shields reports – Mar 28, 2019

After more than 60 years in business, one of Pierrefonds’ favourite watering holes is set to close its doors.

Bar Salon Chez Paul, a fixture on Gouin Boulevard since the 1950s, has been sold to an unknown real estate developer for an undisclosed amount, the owners told Global News.

For co-owner Sophie Forget, selling the bar is bittersweet. She loves running it, but flooding in 2017 convinced her brother, sister and herself that it was time to sell.

The bar escaped the historic flooding largely unscathed, but the owners are unsure of what the future might hold.

“For the person who bought it, he’ll do what he wants,” she said, “and it won’t be any of my business anymore.”

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The bar was started by Paul Valade around 1954 as a steakhouse in the midst of what was then still largely cottage country. The Forget family bought it in 1986 and turned it into a bar, and it flourished at its location on Gouin — despite being surrounded by an increasing number of condo towers.

“It’s home for a lot of people here,” said Joe Carino, a patron.

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The bar’s last day is slated for May 20. Forget told Global News she isn’t planning any sort of special celebration to say goodbye, but that the patrons who frequent the bar expect business as usual.

“When you come here, you come here to be part of the community,” she said.

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Click to play video: 'Pierrefonds Legion upset over theft of access ramp'
Pierrefonds Legion upset over theft of access ramp

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