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Drummond Medical Building's shift to high-end residential units marks end of an era In a few months, the last health clinics at the historic building will make way for rental apartments Brian Lapuz · CBC News · Posted: Jan 12, 2019 6:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 6 hours ago The Drummond Medical Building was viewed as innovative when it was built in 1929. This photo dates to 1931 or 1932. The revolving door is no longer there. (Submitted McCord Museum) 6 comments Not every visit to the doctor's office starts with a greeting from a doorman. The Drummond Medical Building is different. For nearly a century, the stately art deco highrise served as a medical hub to Montrealers. But in a few months, the final clinics remaining are expected to shut their doors for good. The owner plans to convert them into high-end residential rental units. "It's sad to see it end this way," said Shawn Cohen, an ophthalmologist who has had an office in the building for 18 years. "I would have been here forever. I don't think I have any motivation to leave." He has yet to finalize where he will move next. Ophthalmologist Shawn Cohen has had an office in the building for nearly two decades. (Denis Cleary/CBC) 'Distinctive in its day' The 11-floor building was viewed as innovative when it was erected in the Golden Square Mile in 1929. It was designed as a one-stop shop offering patients everything from dental to eye care, at a time when doctors were shifting from home visits to clinical care. "It was actually quite distinctive in its day," McGill University architectural historian Annmarie Adams said. "It was built to bring doctors together. It was a specialized commercial building for doctors' offices and it really represented a brand new building type." This cutaway drawing appeared in the fashion and lifestyle magazine, The Montrealer and Passing Show, in May 1935. Part of the original text read: 'The above cut-away sketch illustrates Montreal’s only exclusively medical and dental building. Patients can be seen leaving their cars and stepping into the elevators—effortlessly reaching their doctors’ offices.' (Submitted David Theodore) Even the parking garage is a testament to its mandate, she said. The ornate facade masks an above-ground, multi-floor car park available for the hundreds of patients who visited daily. Adams herself visits the building regularly. Her dentist is still there. "We've been in the parking garage. It's a pretty wild experience," Adams said. A symbol of the Anglo elite Adams is the co-author of 'Tower of Power: The Drummond Medical Building and the Interwar Centralization of Medical Practice,' an academic article examining the relationship between the building's design and the history of health services in Montreal. David Theodore, the lead author, said the jewellers Henry Birks & Sons wanted to build a parking garage, but the city wouldn't allow it. So they commissioned Percy Erskine Nobbs, a famed Montreal architect, to draw up the plans for a health-care centre. "It's very much tied to Montreal's traditional Scottish Protestant elite," Theodore said. Theodore said he's concerned the building will lose some of its history after it becomes residential rental units. At one time, the building housed up to 80 health clinics. This photo is believed to have been taken between 1931 or 1932. (Submitted McCord Museum) Development targets high-end renters A spokesperson for Monit Investments Inc., the owner of the building, said the owner intends on "maintaining the exterior" and "beauty of the building" for the future rental apartments. "We're still in the planning stage," Jonathan Goldbloom said. "It's obviously a prime location in the downtown core of the city, so one would assume that it'll reflect those who have the economic means to move here." Goldbloom said many of the doctors "were in the twilight of their careers" and the decision to change the building is based on their forecast of a declining demand for clinics downtown. Allan Israel, an 80-year-old dentist, is one of the last tenants. He graduated from McGill University in 1965 and opened his office on Drummond a year later. He is relocating to Peel Street, where he will share a space with a younger dentist. "It's a bit of an inconvenience having to move at this stage in the game," Israel said. "The only other choice was to retire, which I don't want to do." Allan Israel has been practicing dentistry in the Drummond Medical Building since 1966. (Dennis Cleary / CBC) He's been treating one of his childhood friends, Michael Caplin, for decades. Caplin used to go to the YMCA across the street. While working out, he would look through the window to see if Israel was working. PHOTOS 'It was a glorious place': Montrealers share memories of the historic Snowdon Theatre "This building has character, even if this character is kind of dated. It's got character," Caplin said. For his part, he says he's fine with the owner's plan. "Well, nothing is forever. It's as simple as that." ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian Lapuz Journalist Brian Lapuz is a journalist with CBC Montreal. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/drummond-medical-building-1.4975224?fbclid=IwAR1GjULQfLQlz2c-6eC8CrAa-euXD8B1PFr5ssQSVyc6hWzjL2OX1bM8btk

Je n'ai pas vu grand chose !!

Yéééé !! Trois réactions négatives !! Ai-je droit à une médaille à fin de l'année !!?? Plus sérieusement : Ouais !! Là-dessus, je ne peux m'opposer à cette affirmation.

J'imagine que ce n'est pas donné à tout le monde de savoir apprécier le style moderne.

"Une référence architecturale en Amérique du Nord" !! Ils ne doutent de rien !!!

Well, not so much !! easily half a kilometer from the Old Port !!!

La Place Bonaventure n'est pas la Gare Centrale !! On parle de deux édifices différents !! La gare Centrale est un bel édifice dans le plus pure style moderne. De plus, il est plutôt bien préservé.

Je ne saurais pas le dire mais je sais qu'elle ne sera pas visible de chez moi.

Tu connais un seul projet en ce moment dans le centre-ville qui respecte l'environnement dans lequel il est bâti ? à part peut-être l'édifice de l'ONF !!

Ce serait magnifique n'importe où !! Un peut d'audace ne ferait pas de tort à une ville UNESCO du design !! Bon, je vous le concède Longueuil ce n'est pas Montréal mais ç demeure dans la grande région métropolitaine. Il serait temps d'oser quelque chose comme ça à Montréal. Je trouve que nous sommes frileux là-dessus.

Je peux vivre avec !!

Moi j'aime bien recevoir des votes négatifs. Ça prouve à chaque fois que j'ai touché un nerf à vif !! Mise à jour, vendredi à 14h15 : merci pour les 3 avis négatifs !! Je sais que vous pouvez faire mieux !!

Comme si cela a empêché qui que ce soit auparavant sur ce site de spéculer sur des douzaines et des douzaines de pages sur la hauteur théoriques des projets !!

Trop longue !!?? T'es vraiment sérieux ????

Je vous en prie !! Vous pouvez faire mieux !! Que cinq réactions négatives !! Vous me décevez !! Dans ce cas-çi je peux faire une exception car je sais déjà que ce sera laid. Nous avons créer un monstre en autorisant ce type de construction une première fois avec l'édifice de condos Beaux-Arts -qui n'est pas trop mal puisqu'on ne le voit quasiment pas- mais là ça va trop loin.

Encore de belles victoriennes qui seront défigurées !! Le centre-ville de Montréal s'enlaidit !!

De la place Vauquelin il faut désormais se risquer à attraper un torticolis pour réussir à voir le Mont-Royal !!

Same here !! J'ai voulu faire un copier/coller mais je n'ai pas pu et comme toi je ne l'ai pas retrouvé.

On peut déjà deviner qu'on pourra voir le Humaniti à partir du square Victoria puisque'on voit la pointe des grues du chantier sur cette photo.

Sachant que le design de l'hôtel de l'autre côté de la rue sera plus conventionnel, il faudrait que ce projet soit au moins le plus près possible de ce qu'on voit sur ces évocations pour venir contrebalancer la quasi-monotonie de l'hôtel. Ainsi nous aurions une entrée sud du Quartier Chinois à peu près acceptable.

Ce serait parfait !

J'ai compris qu'il parle probablement du projet discuté dans ce fil.

Bref, l'évidence est que ces édifices finiront bien par disparaître dans un avenir assez proche. Il est donc du devoir de la Ville de les acheter même si pour cela elle doit débourser plusieurs millions de dollars. Je ne répugne pas ces maisons -au contraire !! Je ne croyais pas avoir donné cette impression-là dans mes commentaires. Je suis un ardent défenseur du patrimoine mais dans ce cas-ci, la préservation de ces édifices me semble tout à fait saugrenue.

À la condition qu'ils soient rénovés et que leur existence soient assurée pour des décennies à venir -ce dont je doute.

C'est en plein ce que je dis mais moi j'ai eu des tas de "j'aime pas" pour ça !!