Montréal’s Best Kept Secret Park – Place des Nations – Updated
Monthly Archives: September 2011
Can’t we do better than this? {Yet another Modest Proposal}
So here’s the deal.
This building pisses me off.
I know that may seem like a strange reaction to have to a building, but what can I say Рthe home of my favourite team is an unfortunate eyesore and a continuing annoyance for smart development and urban planning in Montr̩al.
The problem is this – twenty some-odd years ago people were convinced that the era of rail travel was likely over in North America. Both CN and CP were in dire financial straights, VIA ridership was at an all-time low, and the AMT had yet to be created. So when it came time to build a new, state-of-the-art arena for the Montreal Canadiens, the site chosen was on top of the CP tracks leading out of Windsor Station, which by that time had ceased all passenger operations anyways. A half-assed attempt at building a commuter rail station into the complex resulted in a grandiose platform and little else. The area has been a mess ever since. The Bell Centre failed to form a nucleus of new activity and the area south of St-Antoine quickly eroded away.
Today the Bell Centre is over capacity and regularly selling out. The Canadiens have out-grown it and have been speculating about a new arena. Moreover, the Bell Centre is a shitty concert venue, and a new rink with better acoustics is certainly in order for a city such as ours. The question is where to put it.
At the same time, passenger rail traffic has increased dramatically, both CN and CP have rebounded to become two of the largest railways in the entire world and the AMT and VIA are both under pressure to provide better service. Calls for airport express trains and a high-speed line between Montreal and Toronto grow every year, and it is becoming apparent that the plan to save Windsor Station from outright demolition was exceptionally wise – we may need to use it again.
Complicating this issue is Cadillac Fairview’s proposal to develop condominiums and an office tower around the Bell Centre, seemingly designed to be integrated into the featureless facade of the arena.
Regular reader EMDX provided this graphic of an overhead perspective of a train viaduct designed to connect the track leading from Lucien l’Allier around to Gare Centrale, something which has been floated around for a while now, and that Cadillac Fairview had also proposed as part of a plan to build a new train station south of Windsor Station.
But if the Bell Centre were simply torn down, we wouldn’t have to build a viaduct, which runs the risk of further cutting up the urban tapestry and creating a larger divide between the CBD and Griffintown, which is in the process of being redeveloped. In addition, we could return Windsor Station to its former grandeur and actually use it as a train station, while land liberated by the demolition of the Bell Centre would still allow for Cadillac-Fairview’s tower plan, should that ever get off the ground.
But perhaps the best part of this little scheme of mine is that there is a great deal of potential for a new arena, and I can imagine it would be the kind of thing that might be able to anchor a neighbourhood and lead to exceptional redevelopment. This could be the case of the Canadiens management were to consider purchasing the former Canada Post sorting facility in Griffintown along Rue Ottawa. See for yourself by checking this bird’s-eye view. The adjacent lots are all 1970s light industrial and are prime for redevelopment. Furthermore, it’s just a couple of streets down from uber-trendy Notre Dame West and the plot of land, currently owned by Canada Lands Corporation, is considerably larger than the Bell Centre site, possibly allowing for a much larger arena, not to mention more parking space. CLC is looking to rid itself of the building, and such a development, specifically on that site, may allow for a complete re-genessis of the area.
I really wish I could get someone in Canadiens management to consider demolishing the Bell Centre and making this move – it would give a whole new meaning to the term ‘nos amours’ in my eyes. An urban-planning conscientious professional hockey team – how much more Montréalais could it get?
Historical Perspectives of Montréal
Facing East on Dorchester Boulevard, late 1950s, early 1960s. You’ll notice the recently completed Queen Elizabeth Hotel in the background and the bus depot in the foreground. Pic seems to have been taken either from Drummond or Mountain. What’s fascinating here is that the Laurentian Hotel, which at one point would have anchored Place du Canada much like the Sun Life Building or Windsor Hotel would have anchored Dominion Square immediately to the North. Further, up to the demolition of the Laurentian in 1978, this area would have had four major hotels facing the combined Dorchester Square – the Queen E, Windsor, Chateau Champlain and Laurentian, with the Sheraton nearby. The Laurentian wasn’t terribly attractive on the outside, as you might be able to see in this photograph, though the interiors were apparently quite well done.
It would take nine years for the Canadian Pacific project to re-develop their lands adjacent to Windsor Station, and by 1987 the Laurentian Bank/Lavalin project had been considerably scaled back. The CPR wasn’t nearly as successful at developing their lands as was CN; quite a pity too, given that some of the shelved CP plans called for major renovations and some epic construction in this area. Seems as if they got the shaft, and that may account for CP’s re-location to Calgary in 1997.
And this is Phillips Square around the same time, facing Northwest across the square from near the centre, with Christ Church Cathedral taking up most of the frame. Consider that this area isn’t nearly as green as it is today. Check this old Kondiaronk article for more percent pictures of the square. You can see that the cathedral now serves as a green space and urban park inasmuch as Phillips Square does. Notice as well the lack of concentrated vendors here (as street vendors were the norm back then), and the planters we have today were back then public toilets – those little towers are in fact ventilation shafts. Apparently you can still access the old toilets if you know what manhole cover to pry open. I wouldn’t recommend it, probably smells quite bad down there, and will doubtless quickly get you arrested.
A view of Westmount Train Station and the Glen Yards, back before the Superhospital. With the closure of Westmount Train Station in the 1980s, Westmount’s public transit access dwindled to a handful of bus lines and a long tunnel to Atwater Métro. Vendome station, much like Atwater, is physically close to Westmount though still in the City of Montreal. It’s unfortunate that this station will almost assuredly never operate as intended again, lest there is sufficient traffic heading West from Westmount. Pity. To my knowledge it lies completely abandoned at Victoria and Saint Catherine’s West, almost within sight of Vendome Station. It’s bizarre that the commuter trains don’t disembark at Westmount Station – which is a proper train station, and have some sort of covered walkway to Vendome and the bus terminus there. It may be wise to try and reduce congestion so close to Vendome and give commuters the advantage of utilizing the train station.
Something tells me that this whole area will be the focal point of year’s worth of renovation work and re-design. Guess we’ll have to wait.
Well this is interesting…
I’ve always been bothered by this.
Matthew Besner was a regular 27 year old guy who, last December, walked out of l’Orignal restaurant in the Old Port and wound up being found dead in the Lachine Canal three days later. You can read the CTV News article here.
In February of this year, the coroner’s office decided the death was accidental, the result of the inebriation of the victim. The coroner indicated that the victim had walked into the canal, fallen through the ice, regained his footing, fell through again and died of hypothermia while partially submerged, trying to free himself. You can read all about that here.
What disturbs me is that it seems so illogical, regardless of Besner’s blood alcohol level, which was reported at 0.26.
For one he was found a good distance from the bar. I estimate that it could have taken about twenty minutes to walk that distance, keeping in mind that the victim was apparently unfamiliar with his surroundings, as he was reported to have entered a depanneur near the Old Port restaurant he was frequenting to ask for directions to Verdun. While I suppose he was heading in the direction of Verdun, what would possess a Montrealer to cross the thin ice of the Canal? It wasn’t terribly cold back then, I’m not even certain it had really snowed much up to that point last winter. What would possess him to continue walking around in the cold without a hat or gloves that night, and why cross at that point of the Canal after potentially crossing paths with two bridges along Rue de la Commune? At the point where he was found, the Mill Street Bridge over the Canal would have been within eyesight.
It was this wikipedia article on the Smiley Face murder theory that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Why was he trying to find a way to Verdun? Why walk all that way? Intoxication seems too convenient an answer, a catch-all and lesson on why we shouldn’t drink too much all at the same time. You might want to consider this blog, which has been keeping track of some 200 responsible, college-aged men who have gone missing or inexplicably turned up dead across parts of North America over the last few years – Footprints at the River’s Edge
I’d really like to know if the workers who found Besner halfway submerged in the ice didn’t also notice a smiley face graffitied onto the side of the billboard pole you can see in the above photograph.
What’s happening with the Dow Brewery?
So what with the redevelopment of the Chaboillez Square article I just wrote, it’s come to my attention that whatever work was going on at the old Dow Brewery building seems to have been suspended.
Can anyone verify this? Does anyone live around there?
Stumbled across this – not terribly well-written but good for a laugh: the “ghosts” that inhabit the Dow Brewery
I don’t believe in ghosts, but inside the Dow Brewery is a good place to let your imagination run wild.
Though hopefully not too wild – keep in mind there are several large holes in various floors where brewing vats used to be, not to mention a plethora of other places you can potentially hurt yourself. Exercise caution if you can still get in here.
I’m curious about the pace of renovations and whether the project has stalled. If so, it would be a good time for Héritage Montréal to organize some tours, a la Silo No. 5.
On another matter, a person I once knew indicated he had come across mobsters disposing of a body in the Dow Brewery. Mob business isn’t mine, and I’m doubtful of the veracity of the story, though in a weird way I want a construction worker to come across a body, only to later reveal (because the building was abandoned for so long), that it had become a preferred location for the victims of organized crime.
I have these visions of construction workers standing in line to speak with CSST shrinks in make-shift counselling tents out behind the old loading docks, while the city’s coroner and homicide department deal with a year’s worth of unidentified (and in some cases unidentifiable) bodies, found buried here, there and everywhere in this massive old building.
And in the end, no one dares purchase a condo there, for fear of the countless ghosts and malicious spirits still crawling around inside.
Macabre I know, I guess I need some excitement in my life…
A new Planetarium at the Big O & what will come of Chaboillez Square?
This is Chaboillez Square, or rather what remains of it.
Technically speaking Chaboillez Square is now the small park in front of the Dow Planetarium, where parking spaces have been placed in the publicity shot featured above. The Planetarium itself was a gift from the Dow Brewery (located behind the Planetarium and currently being converted into condominiums) for Expo 67. With a seating capacity of 375, it is still the largest Planetarium in the country, though the operations are to be moved to a new facility, sponsored in part by Rio Tinto Alcan. While the decision to build a new Planetarium is not an issue of contention, the decision to place the new facility in Maisonneuve Park, adjacent to the Big O, Saputo Stadium, the Insectarium, Biodome, the Botanical Gardens and other diverse diversions is leading some to question whether it is wise to concentrate so many public education and entertainment facilities in the same place. The City is insistent that this plan makes sense as it groups together some of the city’s premiere science-themed museums in one central location, doubtless with tourists and families clearly in mind, not to mention the population balance for the metropolitan region, for which the location is exceptionally well-suited.
But is too much concentration a good idea?
And will a new Planetarium be enough to reverse the fortunes of this still somewhat blighted area? And what underlies this reactionary feeling against placing cultural institutions ‘in the East End’?
It’s discouraging that so many major cultural venues have been moved here, a still somewhat disconnected island of high-density and urban modernism detached from the city, and painfully so. The Olympic Stadium and the grounds around it always seem cold, sterile and lifeless to me, and you can’t help but feel you are in the presence of a somewhat well maintained monument to a bygone age when walking around the site. Sure, there are times when it looks good and it works, but those times don’t come nearly as often as they used to. There are oft-repeated claim that centralizing these institutions and entertainment venues will have major economic spinoffs for the community, though they hardly seem to have been fully realized as the Olympic Stadium and Maisonneuve Park facilities are, to a degree insular, and appear to have little interaction with the built environment around them. The Olympic Stadium alone was supposed to act as the focal point for a major East End renovation and spurn the gentrification of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; what seems to have occurred instead is the gradual recycling of lands once set-aside for new civic institutions and the centralization effort – a use it or lose it situation doubtless a result of the Big O’s big debt. What’s certain is that whatever happens at this site (on the whole) tends to have little impact on the surrounding community, and the reach of Montreal’s downtown urban tapestry has yet to extend this far East. Imagine if all this was concentrated to the West of the CBD – say in NDG, Lachine or LaSalle? I can imagine it would look about as hopelessly disjunct as it does where it is. So the question is, how do we better integrate the Olympic Stadium and its related facilities into a new, more cohesive urban tapestry? A well-designed Planetarium may, at the very least, provide some proportion and a new focal point for orientation within the greater sphere of the design. I suppose that would be rather a pro pos of a Planetarium, and certainly of the ‘orientation through exploration’ design of the greater portion of the city.
Of course there’s not too many places to put large facilities such as these, but it feels as though the density of this sector of the City is still quite imbalanced, and perhaps a city effort to increase residential density with new medium and high-income high-rises in this sector may subsequently trigger at least a partial gentrification or a more proportional sense of scale. A better surface link to the rest of the City, as was attempted, in a manner of thinking, with Corridart.
Then there’s the issue of Westside Montrealers getting the shaft, losing another cultural venue ‘to the East’ as it were. It’s unfortunate that most of the complaining comes from West Islanders who aren’t even citizens of Montrealers, but the fact remains that there are over a million people living East of the Main. The Big O location is surprisingly central, though many loudmouths would like to convince you that East Enders don’t go to museums. The racism I’ve seen in various comment sections is wild – hard to believe some people still think so poorly of Francophones in this day and age.
There is a practical concern however, in that a balance needs to be established between cultural concentration (as you might find in the sprawling, multilevelled Quartier des Spectacles & Place des Arts complex) which is easily accessed and integrated into a high-density urban tapestry, as opposed to the Olympic Stadium site, which seems accessed for the most part via the Pie-IX Métro station and lacks other key services around the site as you might find downtown. It’s tricky, but consider the distribution of universities and how they anchor four distinct parts of the city, or how the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts defines what remains of the Golden Square Mile. Moving the MMFA to any other location seems irresponsible, perhaps inasmuch as moving hockey away from the Forum led to a prolonged, highly localized depression on Ste-Cat’s West.
The situation at Chaboillez Square (the historic name for the large open space where the Dow Planetarium was built in the mid-1960s) is fascinating and particular. While Heritage Montreal has listed the building as threatened and historically valuable, the neighbourhood around the square changes and modernizes dramatically. In an area once defined by industry and poverty, new institutions and neighbourhoods have sprung up. The Quartier des Multimedias, ETS and new residential developments on Notre-Dame and St-Jacques are slowly transforming the area immediately south of the Central Business District, and this area will likely become highly gentrified over the next few decades. The focus on high technology jobs and recycling old buildings has given the sector a noticeable aesthetic, one which is particular to Montréal. That being said, there is a dearth of cultural space, community infrastructure (such as public schools, parks, playgrounds etc) and large, open green spaces. Chaboillez Square, or perhaps a heavily remodelled version making use of space above highway on and off ramps, could support these activities for a new neighbourhood.
Consider it for yourself: here is a link to a bird’s eye perspective from Bing Maps. Compare the area being redeveloped with the large public spaces to the East and North and ask yourself what the future of Chaboillez Square ought to look like.
Then attend the public consultation meetings. Your opinion matters.