JOE'S LIFE SO FAR

It all began back in the 6O's I was a contributing editor for the lodge joined called Balfour lodge. The name I chose for this monthly publication that we called "For the Record", I labelled my article" In case you want to know" because it turned out to be kind of a gossip column for the club members numbering over 180 members at that time. Today for what I decided to put on paper, I will call it" In case you didn't know. This moment in my life came about because an employee at Inflight happened to stop me on an inspection I was making of the latest renovation and last expansion at their address of many years at 4620, 4650, 4654 Cote Vertu in St. Laurent. The date was Nov. 5, 2017.

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I answered the gentleman at Inflight the following: yes, I am a developer, promoter and builder. Yes, I did develop and build this complete complex at 4600 and 4650 Cote Vertu. Yes, after a long delay, my offer to purchase 4550 Cote Vertu came to fruition and after many more years I was able . to purchase the triplex (4510) and bungalow (4530) east of 4550 Cote Vertu with the goal of creating more parking space for GHD. Across the street from 4600/4650 Cote Vertu, after many attempts over the years, I was able to purchase another 152,000 sq. ft. of land in order to put up the freezer called TAS in 2003 located at 4665 Cote Vertu as late as 2013 put up the office building at 4625 Cote Vertu.

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In addition, as a contractor, I had the opportunity to build a 30,000 sq. ft. warehouse extension for Recochem around the corner on Montée de Liesse and Murray Sales head office and showroom and eventually an additional extension to their warehouse. Then there is Protech Chemicals on Henri Bourassa where I built their offices and production and further west down Henri Bourassa, I as a promoter and developer, constructed the large industrial building on the southeast comer at Auotroute 13 and Henri-Bourassa with MDS Sharp Electronics. Not far from there, a little north of Henri Bourassa I modified for my employer, Cytren Construction, the renovated building on the west side that housed Liquid Carbonic and many other tenants in the complex. Way back in my early days in construction for myself, I built a complex for one of the first companies in the cell phone business called Scotpage, and about the same period, an extension for RDC electronics and at 1805 TransCanada Highway, Jan Distribution. Also worth mentioning is the retirement home I built Pierrefond Blvd as a general contractor and one I built for myself as a promoter / developer/owner in Prevost up north along with a condo complex in St. Adele, Quebec in the Laurention mountains.

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Back in the Cytren days, I was project engineer for the construction of many shopping centers and numerous industrial buildings in St. Leonard , south shore, Lachine and St. Laurent. Also for Cytren, I was project engineer for a 12 story apartment building at Milton and St.Urbain, as well as a 4 story office building at 3300 Cote Vertu. On Cote Vertu, I was also in charge of building a little strip center that housed at the time, Factory Carpet and Bad Boy furniture stores on the adjacent lot to the west of 3300 Cote Vertu. Also for Cytren for whom I worked from 1974 until I left in dec.1981, I was project engineer when we built an office building at 1545 Chomedev Boulevard. Before joining Cytren, I did sales in the private sector for Miron, where I brought in contracts for all site work at locations like Cavendish Mail and Place Vertu.

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Before sales at Miron I was project engineer for the the 11'6" sewer collector that went from Sources Road in DDO all the way through DDO and Pierrefond and discharged into the Back River Filtration plant. The true experience as a civil engineer was working on the sewer, water and electrical infrastructure of the islands that made up the EXPO 67 grounds that still are in service to this day all around the Casino.

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As a student engineer at Miron in the late 5O's, I experienced working on the elevated metropolitan expressway and the Cremazie underpass. Where we built in dry dock concrete cribs, which were then formed, and cured. Then moved by opening the water gate and floating them into designated location to form the wharf that is at the bottom of Avenue George V at the refineries of Montreal east.

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Important to note that I spent over two months supervising the building of an ice bridge and setting up camp for the building of the Churchill Falls complex. Then as a graduate Civil Engineer, I started out learning the art of blasting the quarry by calling in experts from CIL and DuPont. Within months, the men stopped blasting the rock into the air, which at times landed on homes in the area. Next project I was given was the study Department, where we improved production of the crushed stone and established proper column control for supply the demand. The most important job I was given was to take charge of preventive maintenance and even most important, get the cement making plant back in operation. The 550 ft. long kiln had cracked open and I was the one who worked out the reason it cracked, but that is a chapter of its own.

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Back to being a developer/promoter / builder, I bought and I created the complex site that housed 3333 Graham Blvd. green glass building in the Town of Mount Royal. Also purchased and marketed the site on the south side of the Metropolitan between Boulevard de l'Acadie and Saint Laurent Boulevard. Also purchased and sold after expanding the shopping center called Place Lorraine on the Autoroute 640. At about the same time, I bought and decontaminated a site in Bois-des-Filion and built a shopping center. Also purchased and renovated the only big shopping mall at the time in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce.

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We still have yet to talk about our expanded family residence in Laval, that got an extension. A 3 car garage with living dining room above it, followed by another expansion to the same corner home, that got an indoor-in ground swimming pool, with a master bedroom above looking over the other bungalows and seeing the skyline of Montreal, all done for the family when I was only 40.

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When I was turning 50, I bought a house at 43 Avenue Maplewood and sold it to the next buyer without moving in. What I then did, was build the home at 45 Avenue Maplewood which was on the land I kept for the family, we lived in it for 10 years. The last house I built in 2005 on the remaining land facing Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine where we now reside since the time I turned 70 and blasted the mountain to make room for the house.

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All this to say, the greatest year of my life was to be given the challenge of challenges, to build Ski Morin Heights in 1981. There I had eight months to put in a sewer and water system with proper management of the water coming in from a stream, and sending the sewage out through treatment plant and leaching fields. In the same time, we installed chair lifts, lighting, and snow making equipment, as well as a pavilion and workshops. Ski hill # 8 is still named after me (Mr. Joe) recognizing that outstanding achievement.

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I forgot to mention at the onset that there was a business acquaintance whom made a partner eventually who came to me looking for a project of mine because he was not getting along with his father-in- law while building individual homes. Gave that acquaintance a three-story apartment in Laval that sustained extensive fire and water damage. He did well on the project and after completion he asked if he could have more. I had just returned from a cruise where my wife and I made friends with another couple who were talking about wanting to put up a theatre in the Rougemont area of Quebec right in the apple orchards.

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Called the newfound friend up and got the project going for my man Daniel Cayouette. At this point we formed another company among many others but called this one (A&C) Development & Construction for Alter and Cayouette. After a few other ventures, Daniel accepted an opportunity to move to Toronto to work for the Catholic School Board where I believe he resides until today.

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Also remembered after the fact that I did put up a school/synagogue or two for our Jewish community, and a garage for each of the 3 cemeteries on the Island of Montreal. Also spent at least 2,000 hrs. rebuilding the deplorable conditions that I found when I visited the Back River Cemetery at Rue Sauvé and Rue Berri. One other thing I take pride in is the organizing and rebuilding of the 1500-foot long stone perimeter wall for the cemetery on Rue de la Savane.

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The day after the technician at Inflight asked what I do, what I own, here I go again without reviewing what I wrote yesterday. Back in the mid 8O'S, after various trades I worked with on previous projects asked me to think of them when a new idea came along, I put together a group of 11 of us and landed up buying 1,500,000 sq. ft. of land behind, at the time General Motors plant in Boisbriand, Quebec. With this group behind me, I answered them at the time that we should plan to sell off a third of the land to others interested in developing their own building, we should be able to build and rent on a third of land for ourselves, and the last third we will keep ourselves and our children. Things moved at a faster rate than I expected and before we knew it, everything that was to happen, happened, but the only difference, we never kept anything for the future, gone so fast.

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There we had rented to Z-Tech, Fletcher Challenge and others, all gone in a short while. All of this happened in Boisbriand, Quebec. because of my own venture of putting up a 30,000 sq. ft. building at 95 Blvd Des Enterprise for Neuman & Fils as a promoter-builder-owner. I rented the building to them for two years and before I knew it they wanted to exercise the option to buy the building and even better, build an extension of an additional 30,000 sq. ft.

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After that came a project which I did as a general contractor for Demilec on autoroute15. 1 also bought and resold land on the 640 highway in the meantime not counting other ideas that I did not pursue. While on the subject of Boisbriand, I also took on a challenge to supply and install 18 streetlights for the Tosh Rabbi so that they could have light at night because for years they would walk their community in complete darkness. That story from 1980 also has a special successful conclusion. The project miraculously completed in time to turn on the lights for the first night of Chanukah.

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More to share, when we talk about the medical building I helped my son Bryan put up in Ottawa. Leading to the joint venture, I put together for my son Bryan and Jaideep, along with my friend John Tiltin. When John reciprocated by asking me if I wanted to be part owner with him in his plant in Brampton, just like I forced him to be a partner in the TAS location on Cote Vertu.

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While it crosses my mind, I might as well go on record. Not too long after finishing the project at expo 67, and doing my part at starting up the project at Churchill Falls, I encouraged my wife Grace and sister Annie in Toronto to consider the idea of starting up an art gallery from our respective homes in Montreal and Toronto. They agreed, and Grace and I flew to Europe to make our first purchase of oil paintings and lithographs and more. We all did well, buying and selling, taking and producing frames for our purchases, and for many customers who bought art from us, and even framing orders. That extra to our life went on for years until the kids were teens. For 11 years, Grace and I were at it from home and Annie continued for at least 40 years including that Annie took on being an expert decorator of people's homes. While the art business is a short story in itself.

 

While I am at it, might as well mention that in 1967 I was president of Balfour Lodge, B’nai Brith and chosen also as well as man of the year as a fund raiser for Israel Bonds. In 1976 formed the Lion's Club of Chomedey when I brought together friends and acquaintances totaling 18 members for a start.

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Now I wonder if I mentioned Gordie Lazare of  Dordocteur who came to me for help to build an extension of his location at 9900 Cote de liesse. My mission was first to negotiate on his behalf with the DOT to acquire more land to build. After a long stretch of time, I succeeded and built his first extension expanding his building parallel to Cote de Liesse. Later he requested I do it again and back to the DOT l went and got him more land in back to expand his plant to the south. Then again, Gordie came back and wanted more land but this time the DOT had me bid publicly and that is how I acquired the remainder of the land on 23rd avenue south of DorDocteur and was left with enough land to put up an industrial building called 2300 23rd Ave that was sold in sections as industrial condominiums.

 

I must also go on record that I tried things like renovating someone's home or two and did a poor job of it. However, we renovated two childcare center on Sources Road in DDO, and one on De la Savane, with positive results. In addition, back in 1998 we did a major renovation for Castle Royal in Cote St. Luc.

 

The memory bank play games also. On the 7th of November 2017, objects and events reappear from memory. Like how about when I was given two major contracts in the late 80’s to rebuild the facades and the lobbies of the Crown Plaza Hotel and Citadel Hotel on Sherbrooke Street West for the Rosenberg and Zunenshine families. This included serious structural modifications to fit the new trends at the time. Imagine cutting away the second floor and creating an open two-story lobby, with additional upgrades including earthquake design and bracing.

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Back then did we did structural work for Salvation Army on Notre Dame. I now remember doing major work for Peter Cohen at their industrial plant in Lasalle and the gun club in Dorval. Later I did work for Robert Cohen renovating all bathrooms in a 14-story building on Notre Dame and the new addition to Crest Loading docks in Laval.

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I now remember in a flash that I forgot the freezer I built for Jackie Tang of GI Ocean on the Trans Canada in Saint Laurent after being asked by Jackie to first help him purchase the land off Timex for him. Did I list Jan Distribution at 1805 Trans Canada where a high rise is going up as I write down my thoughts. Did I mention doing the complete gutting of the building corner Crescent and de Maisonneuve for the first Tony Roma in Montreal? Did I mention doing the rebuilding on Phillips Square of the complex that had a major fire and Joe Sklar introduced me to Joe Hecht, the owner of the building who opened a Dunn's restaurant for his son? We even fixed Joe's country home in St. Agathe.

 

Add 5990 Cote de liesse to another building I did for Cytren. At the time it was built for OE but today Ultra Electronics occupies it. While thinking of the past again, I don't think I mentioned that after completing Ski Morin Heights in time for the winter season of 1981, I then was asked by John Fata to help him during the summer of 1982 since I was a free agent to bring him snow contracts for the winter of 1982. It seemed that Atfa had good summer contracts, but when winter arrived, they did not have enough work for their men. While looking for winter snow clearing I came across Leon Wildstein who was building that big Condo project on the hill on upper Atwater, and got Atfa the paving and sewer works. The most important contract for Atfa that year was the 1,000,000$ contract for snow clearing of the Hawco properties. If my memory is correct, in 1982 I got extra projects for Atfa and in 1983 I was approached by Jmmy Heaslip of United Acoustics if I would join Grishcan Construction that he had running nowhere for a few years with Mike and George. I bought into the company and after two or three years bought them all out and continued for a while.

 

The defining moment was pursuing Neuman & Fils as a developer and property owner.  Dealing with the religious boys reminds me that I also took on the challenge of building a couple of Mikva’s (religious ritual bath).

 

As events and thoughts return to me from memory, I pause here just asking myself, why all this has happened in my life, nobody knows, not even me, but no matter how many sleepless nights or worrisome days there are in a life span, looking back, what wonderful and wild adventure this has been. I hope I can have this luck continue on the other side.

 

The challenges that life provides, and the freedom of choices one makes, is what makes up your life. If you do not succeed in understanding, what life is all about; oh what opportunities and adventures you are missing.

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The sky is the limit and that it is out there where the scientists say you can travel forever and ever in space, and never know what is beyond. In my case, there are hundreds of things I challenged myself and completed, but at this hour in the day, I must continue to think of what things I will accomplish before the weekend arrives again.

 

Am I aware of what it feels like to retire? No! I can hear Grace, Leon and Debbie laughing at that one. When you appreciate all the things you accomplished in a life span, the challenges that come each day, why not continue as long as you have something to contribute to making this a better world for others.

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                                         Joe's dedication and hard work at the Baron de Hirsch - De la Savane Cemetery has been recognized and honored in the winter of 2023. As a tribute to his 40 years of volunteer service, the main road has been renamed Rue Joe Altshuller (Alter). This is a well-deserved recognition for Joe's commitment to the cemetery and the community.

 

Life is a game, a joke, a challenge, and you must laugh at yourself sometimes and bathe in the luck gifted to you, along with the wisdom gained over time.

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Joe Alter (Altshuller)

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