A window into downtown Montreal history

It’s a safe bet that many Montrealers under the age of 30, or even under the age of 50, have no idea that De Maisonneuve Boulevard is a very modern invention. However, the street did not exist prior to 1966.

For its creation, the City of Montreal bulldozed a street-sized path through five solid blocks of buildings, from Drummond to Guy streets, to open up an entirely new east–west thoroughfare through downtown.

From the Victorian Era to the Concordia Era: Altering Street Plans for the Next Generation — the seventh instalment of a Quartier Concordia series exhibited in the vitrines of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV) — explores the evolving morphology of this 19th-century neighbourhood and its historical namesakes.

“Fifty years ago, the reconfiguration of the area was about reimagining Montreal in a modern age,” says Clarence Epstein, Concordia’s senior director of Urban and Cultural Affairs, and director of the Quartier Concordia project.

“We’re looking today at another urban alignment — Quartier Concordia — where the buildings, streets and sidewalks are being repurposed for the city and for the major institutions that serve it. Concordia is unquestionably one of the catalysts of this 21st century rethink.”

All roads lead to … Concordia

In the late 1950s, the City of Montreal faced a problem that had been slowly increasing for the preceding 70 years: the downtown was moving west and becoming increasingly dense.

As a result, its main arteries (Sherbrooke, Sainte-Catherine and Dorchester streets) were overloaded. Burnside Place, which ran east from Drummond, needed to be expanded and connected to Saint-Luc Street, which ran west from Guy. 
 

In between, there were five blocks’ worth of largely low-rise Victorian-era residential buildings. The city expropriated the homes to build De Maisonneuve Boulevard.

The creation of the boulevard was closely linked with the development of Sir George Williams University, which took advantage of the new street’s development to break ground on the Henry F. Hall Building.

Fifty years ago this November, the Hall Building opened on the same day as the Montreal Metro — and it was the first to be built facing De Maisonneuve Boulevard.

“These fundamental changes dating back decades are very much relevant to why things are happening today,” Epstein says.

A neighbourhood of the future

In the late 1950s, the City of Montreal was beginning to change the shape and character of what is now called Quartier Concordia.

The development of De Maisonneuve Boulevard signalled the shift from a residential to a commercial character for the future of the neighbourhood, which had already begun to stake its presence in the area with the construction of the Norris Building.

Built on Drummond Street in 1955, the Norris Building was the original home of Sir George Williams University, but demand for space in the new premises quickly outpaced capacity.

When construction began on the Hall Building, it was a concrete representation of the new identity of a neighbourhood to which people flocked in huge numbers to shop, do business and study.

The Quartier Concordia exhibition showcases the past of a neighbourhood that has returned to the forefront of municipal development.

Check out From the Victorian Era to the Concordia Era, the new Quartier Concordia exhibition, in the vitrines of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (1515 Sainte-Catherine St. W.) along Guy Street.