Locals of a certain age won't have to strain what's left of their brains too hard to remember the old Arts Square, lamentably eradicated by city diktat. Here's a shot of the outdoor museum with some swinging layabouts in the foreground and the olde Laurentian Hotel (west side of Peel, south of Dorchester) in the background.
During the summer months, Arts Square in Dominion Square used to display 100-200 works of art -- including paintings and the occasional sculpture -- that "reflected the cultural duality of Montreal." (Beast and man? -- Chimples) The works were exhibited day and night in illuminated cases like these for the enjoyment of passers-by from mid-June through mid-September. Selected by an experienced jury, the artworks were all by Montreal artists. The idea of Arts Square was credited to Montreal artists Rene Durocher and Francois Deziel, and implemented by City Hall and the municipal parks service.
Here's the same spot today.
It looks like you can actually just make out the ghostly remains of what might be some of the footings where the cases used to stand on this currently weedy and neglected part of the once-noble downtown park.
Locals of a certain age won't have to strain what's left of their brains too hard to remember the old Arts Square, lamentably eradicated by city diktat. Here's a shot of the outdoor museum with some swinging layabouts in the foreground and the olde Laurentian Hotel (west side of Peel, south of Dorchester) in the background.
During the summer months, Arts Square in Dominion Square used to display 100-200 works of art -- including paintings and the occasional sculpture -- that "reflected the cultural duality of Montreal." (Beast and man? -- Chimples) The works were exhibited day and night in illuminated cases like these for the enjoyment of passers-by from mid-June through mid-September. Selected by an experienced jury, the artworks were all by Montreal artists. The idea of Arts Square was credited to Montreal artists Rene Durocher and Francois Deziel, and implemented by City Hall and the municipal parks service.
Here's the same spot today.
It looks like you can actually just make out the ghostly remains of what might be some of the footings where the cases used to stand on this currently weedy and neglected part of the once-noble downtown park.
Ahh, progress...turning a vibrant locale into a windswept morass...all the better for the drunks, the aging teen model hookers on O.C. and heroin, and panhandlers who relocated to the city from the Maritimes, to ply their trade.
ReplyDeleteThese pics were published in the "Montreal" magazine put out by the city's communications department in the 60s and distributed through the mail to residences.
The bus parked on Peel is a Metropolitain Provincial GM SDM-5302, delivered in 1964, and from numbered in the 4600 series. It is shown in its original colours, before being repainted in the red/blue/purple centre-of-coach circle design after 1967. Parked on Peel Street indicates that it was assigned that day to service to the Gray Line franchise that MPI had for years...the CTCUM briefly assumed the franchise after their acquisition of MPI in 1980, before relinquishing the rights to Autocar Connaisseur, now part of the Coach Canada/StageCoach Group system.
I never realized the Laurentien Hotel was so ornate… To me, it was a dull, ugly modern building that simply missed the style train I.M.Pei, Skidmore Owings & Merril* and Le Corbusier† caught.
ReplyDelete* The three blind Mies.
† “The Swiss in France”, according to F.L.Wright.
Yeah, Le Corbusier was cool. If only Drapeau had visited Chandigarh. I'm not the biggest fan of Place Zeckendorf (um, Ville Marie). Although it does beat most of the city's mostly ho-hum high-rises. (But nothing touches visitors like the Sun Life Building and St. Joseph's Oratory -- both of which can also be seen as quite ridiculous, too.)
ReplyDeleteThe Laurentian Hotel added so much life to the Square and Peel Street because it was facing it - it was positioned to relate to and speak the square. La Laurentienne doesn't relate to the square at all. The architects decided to turn its back to it. I much prefer the Hotel.
ReplyDeleteThe Laurentien was making money when it was demolished. It's just that the owners were sure they could make even more money if something else were there instead.
ReplyDelete