ville-marie Station Gare Centrale - Discussion

[internationalx]

3 hours ago, KOOL said:

The only possible tear-downs would of course be the elevated parking and maybe the building on the North-West corner of DLG/R-B.

 

 CN HQ is one-day tear down.  The old ICAO building is a teardown.   And one day, the Terminal Tower is a tear down. In addition of course to the ones you mentioned.  The only building worthy of preservation - and it's the interior only - is actual Gare Centrale.  Also, The Queen E.  

[BilMo]

On 2024-01-19 at 1:49 PM, internationalx said:

If there was ever a mega block redevelopment site in the literal center of a business center anywhere, that also is the supposed hub of mass transit, this is it!      The entire 2-block (each side of Belmont) needs a major reinvention, land-use masterplan, etc...  several buildings are also tear-downs. 

If I was going to reconfigure the station, I would use Belmont Street itself as the main hall with dramatic entrances at each end–one on Mansfield and the other on R-B.  There would also be an arm that stretches to R-L with another dramatic entrance in line with the McGill axis.

[KOOL]

Le 2024-02-02 à 14:11, BilMo a dit :

There would also be an arm that stretches to R-L with another dramatic entrance in line with the McGill axis.

There is no space to do so between Queen E and Terminal Tower. 

 

[BilMo]

On 2024-02-04 at 7:36 AM, KOOL said:

There is no space to do so between Queen E and Terminal Tower. 

 

If we are talking about tearing buildings down, then why is a modification to the bottom floor of the Queen E a stretch?

[internationalx]

8 hours ago, BilMo said:

If we are talking about tearing buildings down, then why is a modification to the bottom floor of the Queen E a stretch?

Probably will cut have their ballrooms and F & B space.  To align it with PVM plaza and Mc Gill College, you'd need to cut the hotel in half. 

[steve]

worth preserving and possibly moving so we can appreciate

By Fritz Brandtner

A bas-relief on Central Station that few Montrealers have seen since it was blocked by construction of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in 1958. There is another bas-relief of Mercury at the other end. These magnificent designs, at least ten feet long, used to be visible from the old Dorchester Street. Now they can only be photographed at an angle through very dirty windows in the staircases on either end of the station. The Mercury bas-relief has had some large tube place across it but fortunately is was not marred. If one walks under the skylight in the new food court in Central Station, these bas-reliefs are right above you but they cannot be seen because the skylight has frosted glass. We hope to get access to the space above the skylight to get some good photos.

[DJJB]

Gare Central needs to be entirely re-envisioned just as badly as the entire role of train infrastructure in the city. I have trouble envisioning a HFR or HSR snaking it's way through the Sud-Ouest borough as the current VIA Rail train does on shared CN infrastructure that's used for assembling freight trains in PSC and with the at-grade passages of St-Ambroise et Courcelle. Plus now definitely being a terminal station with the REM's hostile take over of the Mt-Royal tunnel, it's hard to imagine Gare Central's future in the 21st century the way it is currently.

But that should probably be more a topic for the VIA Rail thread.

[Enalung]

On 2024-02-05 at 8:43 AM, BilMo said:

If we are talking about tearing buildings down, then why is a modification to the bottom floor of the Queen E a stretch?

I forget on which post, but if that is indeed what he is suggesting, he ain't the first to do so. I've also done that myself and there are probably a number of other peoples who have. The thing is that right now, there is no need for that. The first thing that we have to do is to start by building up rail transit. Given the current usage of Gare Centrale, I feel that it would be very hard to justify spending that kind of money. Improving Gare Centrale is something that should be left for later. Improving passenger rail service comes first.

[BilMo]

8 hours ago, Enalung said:

I forget on which post, but if that is indeed what he is suggesting, he ain't the first to do so. I've also done that myself and there are probably a number of other peoples who have. The thing is that right now, there is no need for that. The first thing that we have to do is to start by building up rail transit. Given the current usage of Gare Centrale, I feel that it would be very hard to justify spending that kind of money. Improving Gare Centrale is something that should be left for later. Improving passenger rail service comes first.

When I posted the suggestion, it wasn’t intended as a solution to today's issues.

[BilMo]

On 2024-02-12 at 4:42 AM, Enalung said:

I forget on which post, but if that is indeed what he is suggesting, he ain't the first to do so. I've also done that myself and there are probably a number of other peoples who have. 

Please share what you came up with.