Maples Inn

1. Overview

For nearly nine decades, the Maples Inn occupied a distinctive place in the social and cultural life of Pointe-Claire. Established in 1897, at a time when the shores of Lake Saint-Louis were becoming a popular summer destination for Montrealers, the establishment radically changed its purpose as successive generations adopted it. ^[1]

Initially associated with summer holidays and a privileged clientele, the Maples gradually opened to families and developed a recreational offering that included a beach, dock, tennis, dining, miniature golf, and dancing. Later, as the old world of resort hotels declined, music allowed the venue to reinvent itself.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the old hotel became the “Mapes”, an emblematic gathering place for West Island youth, counterculture, and rock music. This transformation makes the Maples a remarkable example of one building accompanying several completely different eras in the history of Montreal leisure.

2. A Lakeside Resort Hotel

At the end of the nineteenth century, Pointe-Claire was still a country destination for many Montrealers. Families left the city during the summer to stay in houses, boarding establishments, and hotels located along Lake Saint-Louis.

It was in this context that the Maples Inn appeared in 1897. Located directly on Lakeshore Road, the establishment benefited from a landscape very different from today’s urbanized West Island. ^[1]

The property included a beach and a dock. Vacationers could swim in the lake, while the shoreline provided an ideal viewpoint for Pointe-Claire regattas and hydroplane races. The dock was eventually damaged by ice and spring flooding and disappeared by the end of the 1930s. ^[1]

3. From Private Club to Family Recreation

In its early years, the Maples had a much more exclusive character than it would later acquire. Historical sources indicate that it was reserved for “distinguished gentlemen” until 1902, before gradually opening to a family clientele. ^[1]

The automobile helped transform local habits. Lakeshore Road became a popular scenic route, and the Maples was a natural stopping point: visitors could eat, enjoy the lake, or spend part of the day there.

The establishment consequently developed a true recreational offering. A tennis court, snack bar, and other amenities were gradually added to the hotel.

In the early 1930s, the Maples also added a course described by Montreal heritage sources as the first miniature-golf course in Canada. ^[1]

4. Music and Dancing

Long before becoming a rock venue, the Maples already possessed an important musical dimension. Dance nights became one of the establishment’s main attractions and helped transform the former resort hotel into a social gathering place.

This tradition continued especially during the postwar years. Historical material on the Maples associates the Charlie Legault big band with the venue between 1945 and 1963. ^[2]

For one generation of customers, the Maples remained a place to eat and dance by the lake. The arrival of rock & roll and the rapid evolution of youth culture, however, would soon profoundly change its identity.

5. From Rock to the Counterculture

During the 1960s, the traditional resort-hotel model was already in decline. At the same time, a new generation of West Island youth was looking for gathering places of its own.

The Maples then found an unexpected second life. The aging hotel, far removed from the prestige of its early decades, became an informal meeting place where rock music, youth culture, and the counterculture converged.

Local groups associated with Montreal’s garage and psychedelic scenes performed there, including The Power of Beckett, The Rabble, and The Haunted. ^[2]

This period permanently altered the venue’s reputation. For authorities and some neighbours, the Maples became a troublesome establishment. For part of the younger generation, it represented exactly the opposite: a place of freedom, music, and camaraderie.

6. The “Mapes” Era

During the 1970s, the nickname “Mapes” came to summarize the establishment’s new identity. The building retained the appearance of an old Lakeshore hotel, but its interior now belonged to the culture of bars and rock clubs.

Memories of this period describe a large room with a stage, tables and pool tables, as well as a long space known as the Caboose. ^[3]

The Big City Band, a blues-rock group, became particularly associated with the Maples and is described in accounts of the venue as something of a house band. ^[2]

The atmosphere of the Mapes became an integral part of its legend. It was not simply a place to see a band: it became a meeting point for a community of young people from the West Island.

7. Transformation into a Rock Club

A new chapter began in 1977, when the establishment changed ownership and Arthur Dalfen was given the task of repositioning the Maples as a true rock club. ^[2]

Major renovations were undertaken, and management attempted to distance the venue from some of the more problematic aspects of the reputation it had acquired during the preceding years. The musical programming became more ambitious.

Established groups, including Offenbach, performed at the Maples. By the late 1970s, concerts could be presented several nights a week, making the establishment a genuine rock venue in Montreal’s West Island. ^[2]

Around 1980, a new management team took over. However, the coexistence of a heavily attended rock club with a residential neighbourhood became increasingly difficult. Noise, traffic, liquor-licence issues, and opposition from some local residents weighed heavily on the Maples’ future.

8. Closure and Fire

By the early 1980s, the future of the Maples had become uncertain. Problems surrounding its liquor licence and opposition from some neighbours weakened an establishment whose existence was becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile with the residential evolution of the surrounding area.

The Maples finally ceased operations in early February 1985. The chronology preserved by MCPA places its final day of operation on February 5. ^[2]

Two days later, on February 7, 1985, the former hotel was destroyed by fire. The circumstances of the blaze gave rise to various stories and suspicions; in the absence of a sufficiently clear official source establishing arson, it is more prudent to state simply that the building was destroyed by fire. ^[1]

The property was later redeveloped, and condominiums eventually occupied the former Maples site.

9. Legacy

The historical importance of the Maples Inn extends far beyond its years as a concert venue. Its history tells nearly a century of changing leisure patterns in Montreal’s West Island.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Maples belonged to the world of Lake Saint-Louis resort hotels. In the early twentieth century, it accompanied the rise of the automobile and family recreation. After the war, it belonged to the culture of big bands and dance nights. The 1960s and 1970s then transformed it into a centre of counterculture and rock music.

This ability to reinvent itself largely explains the place of the “Mapes” in West Island memory. Several generations knew the same building, but they did not necessarily know the same Maples Inn.

For Montreal music history, its rock period is particularly important. At a time when much of the city’s concert activity was concentrated downtown, the Maples offered performers and audiences in the western part of the island a venue that belonged to them geographically and culturally.