1. The Monument-National in the City
2. A Community Under Threat in a Changing World
3. The Early Years: the Monument’s "Open Arms"
4. The Monument-National and the Women’s Movement
5. The Monument-National: A Breeding Ground of New Ideas and a Multiethnic Cultural Centre
6. On Stage at the Monument: Innovation and Avant-Garde
7. On Stage at the Monument: Eclecticism and Popular Success
8. The Long Slide Downhill
9. Renaissance: Rebirth, Centenary

8. The Long Slide Downhill

After the Second World War, the Monument-National went into a long downward spiral. The Saint-Laurent Boulevard – or "the Main," – as it was known, developed a bad reputation. Prostitution, gambling, and trafficking of all kinds repelled the Monument’s regulars, who then opted for the large, safer, more comfortable and more modern locales on Sainte-Catherine Street. However, the area’s bad reputation was not the only reason for the Monument’s decline. The war had dealt an almost fatal blow to Jewish theatre, which disappeared in Europe and the United States. The big productions in Yiddish became increasingly rare in Québec, as elsewhere, and were only preserved by efforts of amateur groups with few resources.

The post-war era was also difficult for the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, which had succeeded the Association Saint-Jean-Baptiste but which suffered serious financial difficulties that prevented it from investing the large sums required for the upkeep of an aging building. Left to itself, the Monument deteriorated rapidly. While a few great international acts, like Édith Piaf, Henri Salvador, and the Compagnons de la chanson, continued to put on a few memorable appearances there, as did Théâtre du Rideau Vert or more ephemeral groups like Théâtre-Club or Théâtre du Rire, the Monument had become only a shadow of its former self and its glory days seemed well and truly over. Destined for apparently ineluctable demolition as part of the municipal authorities’ various urban renewal projects, the Monument-National sank into oblivion.