ville-marie Square Dorchester et Place du Canada: réaménagement

[Gbx]

Super nouvelle, la place du Canada est la plus belle place du centre ville.

[internationalx]

Love that they will light up the monuments. That should make for a beautiful sight at night. Hopefully they don't go too modern/contemporary with the furniture though. I'd like it to remain true to the period. it could use some better paving materials other than cheap asphalt.

[ErickMontreal]

City will revamp Place d'Armes, downtown squares

Dorchester Square, Place du Canada get facelift as part of $20-million plan

By ALAN HUSTAK, The GazetteMarch 1, 2009

 

The city has earmarked $20 million for the redesign of Place d'Armes in Old Montreal and the restoration of Dorchester Square and Place du Canada this year.

 

Cardinal Hardy/Teknika-HBA - the urban landscape architects responsible for the recent reconfiguration of Norman Bethune Square near Concordia University and the design of Place d'Youville in Old Montreal - have begun work on plans to revamp the two public spaces.

 

An estimated $14 million will be spent on the Place d'Armes redesign.

 

"The elevated platform in the centre of the plaza will be demolished and we'll bring the square back to ground level," project advisor Isabelle Giasson said.

 

There are no plans to move a statue of Montreal's founder from the centre of the plaza, but the pool beneath might be redesigned.

 

It's a historic piece of ground. Montreal's founder, Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, fought a battle with the Iroquois on the site on March 30, 1644. Place d'Armes first appeared on maps in 1683, when the first Notre Dame Church was completed. Ten years later, the Sulpicians dubbed it Place de la Paroisse, or Parish Square.

 

"It's a very sensitive space, of exceptional historic and archeological importance, and in the new plan we expect to integrate a symbolic reference to the old Notre Dame Church, which was demolished in 1830." The square is surrounded by a number of exceptional buildings that represent four centuries of architecture, including the Sulpician seminary, built in 1684, Notre Dame Basilica, the Bank of Montreal's head office and Montreal's first skyscraper, the New York Life Insurance Building.

 

"The concept is to open up the area and give more attention to pedestrian traffic than before," Giasson said.

 

The square has been redesigned many times over the last three centuries. Its last makeover was in 1964.

 

Construction is scheduled to begin in September and work should be finished by November 2011.

 

The work on Dorchester Square and Place du Canada in the heart of downtown will restore the public space to its former beauty rather than radically change the configuration.

 

For the past 20 years or so, the area has become a little derelict. Much of the work will be done by landscape architect Claude Cormier.

 

The city has earmarked $3.5-million to spruce up the two squares on either side of René Lévesque Blvd. between Peel and Metcalfe Sts.

 

The work is expected to take four years to complete.

 

Once known as Dominion Square, Dorchester Square represents one of the last vestiges of imperial Montreal.

 

Scattered around the two squares are memorials to Queen Victoria, to the Strathcona Horse, a Canadian regiment that fought in the Boer War, the city's war memorial, a statue of Robert Burns, and statues of former prime ministers Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. All the monuments will be cleaned and restored.

 

It will be a long and involved process. There will be archeological digs, as the area used to be a cemetery.

 

Originally a burial ground, the land was expropriated by the city for use as a park in 1871. It was named Dominion Square in 1872 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Confederation. It was renamed Dorchester Square in 1988.

 

A new $750,000 lighting scheme to illuminate the monuments after dark is included in the facelift.

 

ahustak@ thegazette.canwest.com

© Copyright © The Montreal Gazette

[Rocco]

Four years to complete a landscaping duty on Place du Canada & Dorchester square??? wtf Are they hiring only 1 employee to do the whole job?

[Gbx]

Four years to complete a landscaping duty on Place du Canada & Dorchester square??? wtf Are they hiring only 1 employee to do the whole job?

 

Si on creuse, c'est clair qu'il va y avoir des fouilles archéologiques. Creuser au pinceau, ça prends pas mal plus de temps qu'à la tractopelle

[Hercule]

Si on creuse, c'est clair qu'il va y avoir des fouilles archéologiques. Creuser au pinceau, ça prends pas mal plus de temps qu'à la tractopelle

 

Je crois qu'il y a déjà eu un cimetière sur le site... J'espère qu'ils n'auront pas besoin de trop creuser.....

[yarabundi]

Je crois qu'il y a déjà eu un cimetière sur le site

Comme il est dit dans l'article :

There will be archeological digs, as the area used to be a cemetery.

 

Originally a burial ground, the land was expropriated by the city for use as a park...

Il y a déjà eu des fouilles archéologiques il y a environ cinq ans -probablement plus des fouilles préliminaires. ça n'a pas été*loin mais il a été établi avec certitude qu'il y a toujours des restes humains sous la Place du Canada.

 

En passant je suis très inquiet de ce que la Ville veut faire avec la Place d'Armes. Les évocations qu'on a vu ne sont guère reluisants. Je crains un second massacre de la Place d'Armes.

[mtlurb]

Au pire, si on creuse trop profond...

 

They will finish the job!

 

[cjb]

Peu de gens savent que sous la place-d'armes, avant il y avait des toilettes publiques. En fait elles y sont toujours!! voici des photos prises par maze et tijeff de uer.ca :

 

 

[jesseps]

Peu de gens savent que sous la place-d'armes, avant il y avait des toilettes publiques. En fait elles y sont toujours!! voici des photos prises par maze et tijeff de uer.ca :

 

 

 

wow i wonder how they got down there, it be nice to see some history