Îlot Overdale (2013)

[IluvMTL]

I was hoping to find a rendering of the 1987 proposal for this site, but no such luck..

 

Did come across this info

 

Seems that Dan Hanganu won first prize in a competition for his proposal in 1986.

http://www.hanganu.com/fra/AWAR/Awards.pdf

 

 

According to this paper I found online,

Galleria Dorchester’s proposed project was to construct two thirty-nine-storey towers of 650 condominium units to be sold to wealthy individuals.17 A variety of services such as boutiques,restaurants and a pedestrian tunnel, were to be incorporated into the condominium complex in order to create a self-sufficient community.18

http://art-history.concordia.ca/institute_site/conf08_palimpsest/papers/Anna-Maria_Moubayed.pdf

 

 

Here's the wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdale,_Montreal

[MontréalMartin]

Voici le projet tel que présenté dans La Presse du 3 octobre 1987

[monctezuma]

Wow merci ! On n'avait pas ce projet dans le fil des projets annulés. Je l'ai ajouté. Merci, notre banque se complète un peu plus grâce à toi

[cjb]

Très intéressant !! merci bien pour cette photo d'archive.

[IluvMTL]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Hope+grows+landmark/5589984/story.html

 

Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine home: Hope grows for landmark

 

 

By Marian Scott, THE GAZETTE October 22, 2011 8:01 AM

 

 

MONTREAL - For 25 years, vandalism, neglect and partial demolition have taken their toll on the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine house.

 

But as the 166-year-old greystone mansion has crumbled, the clamour to save the home of the man who brought democracy to Canada has only grown stronger.

 

Now, there is new hope for a building many regard as this country’s most important endangered historic structure.

 

Last week, heritage advocates met with the house’s new owner, businessman Kheng Ly, who is planning a commercial-residential project on René Lévesque Blvd. between Lucien L’Allier and Mackay Sts. Ly said he was open to exploring ways to preserve the mansion and part of its grounds.

 

“This is one of the most important historic buildings in Canada, period,” said La Fontaine’s biographer, John Ralston Saul, who was in Montreal this week to launch the French translation of his 2010 book, Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin.

 

“It’s not simply that this was La Fontaine’s house. This is the house when he became the first prime minister of a democratic Canada,” Saul said.

 

Many Montrealers have rediscovered La Fontaine’s contribution to Canadian history in recent months as the Pointe à Callière archaeology museum has unearthed remains of the former Parliament under Place d’Youville.

 

The city was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844-1849. It lost that title after a mob of English-speaking Tories burned down the Parliament building – and tried to burn down the La Fontaine house, which still bears bullet holes from the attack.

 

As prime minister of the province of Canada from 1848-51, La Fontaine, aided by English-Canadian reformer Robert Baldwin, established responsible government, meaning that the prime minister is accountable to Parliament, and thus to the people.

 

He also introduced official bilingualism in the elected assembly.

 

In contrast to earlier reformers like Patriote leader Louis-Joseph Papineau, Saul said, La Fontaine used political savvy and the art of compromise to wrest self-government from Britain.

 

Despite years of abuse and alterations, the peaceful refuge where La Fontaine, an introvert who spent many hours in his home library, devised those policies still survives at 1395 Overdale Ave.

 

“It’s a national birthplace,” said Dinu Bumbaru, policy director of Heritage Montreal, who met Ly and his architect Oct. 14 along with Senator Serge Joyal and heritage advocate Phyllis Lambert, founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

 

Bumbaru said the new owner expressed willingness to explore options for preserving and restoring the historic building.

 

“They would like it to become a lively place,” Bumbaru said of Ly and his associates, who paid $28 million for the 140,000-square-foot site and are working on plans for a mixed commercial-residential complex.

 

“This (the La Fontaine house) would lend a certain prestige for their project,” Bumbaru added.

 

Concordia University history student Ashley Clarkson, who organized a petition to save the house with classmate Selina Antonucci, took heart from the latest twist in its saga.

 

“We build monuments for La Fontaine, like Lafontaine Park, and we name things after him, like the tunnel, and yet we have this direct connection to his life, and it seems like everybody just is letting it fall apart,” said Clarkson, 22.

 

“I’m very hopeful. The news we just heard about the new owners being motivated, that made me really happy,” she said.

 

The mansion’s troubles date back to the 1980s, when developers Douglas Cohen and Robert Laundau bought up properties on Overdale Ave. – a short street south of René Lévesque Blvd. – and evicted residents for a $100-million condo project.

 

The La Fontaine property narrowly escaped demolition when the city designated it a historic site in 1987, but that did not stop the owners from gutting the interior in 1991 nor has it prevented damage from more than two decades of neglect.

 

Its graffiti-covered walls and gaping windows are a far cry from the mansion’s appearance in the 1840s, when it commanded a splendid view of apple orchards, says Anna de Aguayo, an anthropology teacher at Dawson College who has researched the building’s history.

 

John Ostell, Montreal’s leading architect of the time, known for McGill University and the Customs House in Old Montreal, was commissioned to design the house in 1845. It is the only surviving example of Ostell’s domestic architecture.

 

The Italianate villa originally had a wide hipped roof, sweeping front staircase and a wrought-iron balconette over the front door, originally one storey higher than the present entrance.

 

A mansard roof added in the 1880s transformed its appearance.

 

When the railroad sliced though the neighbourhood in the 1880s, many wealthy residents moved away and the old houses were subdivided.

 

In the 1950s, the La Fontaine house was turned into an apartment building, and the front entrance was moved to the basement level.

 

But David McKinstry, a consultant with the Georgian Group, a preservation organization in London, said despite those transformations, the building is still significant and merits restoration.

 

“In the U.K., this building would almost certainly be listed,” he said. In Britain, lottery funds are partly funneled into restoration of historic properties, McKinstry said.

 

“I would say it is very important as the only surviving example of the domestic work of a known and eminent architect,” he said.

 

Advocates say it should become a museum about the pivotal figure who brought responsible government to Canada.

 

“Its historic role is absolutely clear,” Saul said. “I think it should be a museum. A museum about the birth of democracy in Canada, why not?”

 

 

mascot@montrealgazette.com

Modifié 22 octobre 2011 par IluvMTL

[Jollysnork]

I consider this project the most important one in Montreal. It will fill an important and prominent hole in the cityscape and give LH LaFontaine his due. It will combine new architecture with preservation. Perfect. Let's all get behind this one!

 

 

Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine home: Hope grows for landmark

BY MARIAN SCOTT, THE GAZETTE OCTOBER 22, 2011 8:01 AM

 

 

 

STORYPHOTOS ( 2 )

 

 

 

More Images »

 

Decades of neglect: The Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine house on Overdale Ave. narrowly escaped demolition when the city designated it a historic site in 1987, but that did not stop the owners from gutting the interior in 1991.

Photograph by: Dario Ayala, THE GAZETTE

MONTREAL - For 25 years, vandalism, neglect and partial demolition have taken their toll on the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine house.

 

But as the 166-year-old greystone mansion has crumbled, the clamour to save the home of the man who brought democracy to Canada has only grown stronger.

 

Now, there is new hope for a building many regard as this country’s most important endangered historic structure.

 

Last week, heritage advocates met with the house’s new owner, businessman Kheng Ly, who is planning a commercial-residential project on René Lévesque Blvd. between Lucien L’Allier and Mackay Sts. Ly said he was open to exploring ways to preserve the mansion and part of its grounds.

 

“This is one of the most important historic buildings in Canada, period,” said La Fontaine’s biographer, John Ralston Saul, who was in Montreal this week to launch the French translation of his 2010 book, Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin.

 

“It’s not simply that this was La Fontaine’s house. This is the house when he became the first prime minister of a democratic Canada,” Saul said.

 

Many Montrealers have rediscovered La Fontaine’s contribution to Canadian history in recent months as the Pointe à Callière archaeology museum has unearthed remains of the former Parliament under Place d’Youville.

 

The city was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844-1849. It lost that title after a mob of English-speaking Tories burned down the Parliament building – and tried to burn down the La Fontaine house, which still bears bullet holes from the attack.

 

As prime minister of the province of Canada from 1848-51, La Fontaine, aided by English-Canadian reformer Robert Baldwin, established responsible government, meaning that the prime minister is accountable to Parliament, and thus to the people.

 

He also introduced official bilingualism in the elected assembly.

 

In contrast to earlier reformers like Patriote leader Louis-Joseph Papineau, Saul said, La Fontaine used political savvy and the art of compromise to wrest self-government from Britain.

 

Despite years of abuse and alterations, the peaceful refuge where La Fontaine, an introvert who spent many hours in his home library, devised those policies still survives at 1395 Overdale Ave.

 

“It’s a national birthplace,” said Dinu Bumbaru, policy director of Heritage Montreal, who met Ly and his architect Oct. 14 along with Senator Serge Joyal and heritage advocate Phyllis Lambert, founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

 

Bumbaru said the new owner expressed willingness to explore options for preserving and restoring the historic building.

 

“They would like it to become a lively place,” Bumbaru said of Ly and his associates, who paid $28 million for the 140,000-square-foot site and are working on plans for a mixed commercial-residential complex.

 

“This (the La Fontaine house) would lend a certain prestige for their project,” Bumbaru added.

 

Concordia University history student Ashley Clarkson, who organized a petition to save the house with classmate Selina Antonucci, took heart from the latest twist in its saga.

 

“We build monuments for La Fontaine, like Lafontaine Park, and we name things after him, like the tunnel, and yet we have this direct connection to his life, and it seems like everybody just is letting it fall apart,” said Clarkson, 22.

 

“I’m very hopeful. The news we just heard about the new owners being motivated, that made me really happy,” she said.

 

The mansion’s troubles date back to the 1980s, when developers Douglas Cohen and Robert Laundau bought up properties on Overdale Ave. – a short street south of René Lévesque Blvd. – and evicted residents for a $100-million condo project.

 

The La Fontaine property narrowly escaped demolition when the city designated it a historic site in 1987, but that did not stop the owners from gutting the interior in 1991 nor has it prevented damage from more than two decades of neglect.

 

Its graffiti-covered walls and gaping windows are a far cry from the mansion’s appearance in the 1840s, when it commanded a splendid view of apple orchards, says Anna de Aguayo, an anthropology teacher at Dawson College who has researched the building’s history.

 

John Ostell, Montreal’s leading architect of the time, known for McGill University and the Customs House in Old Montreal, was commissioned to design the house in 1845. It is the only surviving example of Ostell’s domestic architecture.

 

The Italianate villa originally had a wide hipped roof, sweeping front staircase and a wrought-iron balconette over the front door, originally one storey higher than the present entrance.

 

A mansard roof added in the 1880s transformed its appearance.

 

When the railroad sliced though the neighbourhood in the 1880s, many wealthy residents moved away and the old houses were subdivided.

 

In the 1950s, the La Fontaine house was turned into an apartment building, and the front entrance was moved to the basement level.

 

But David McKinstry, a consultant with the Georgian Group, a preservation organization in London, said despite those transformations, the building is still significant and merits restoration.

 

“In the U.K., this building would almost certainly be listed,” he said. In Britain, lottery funds are partly funneled into restoration of historic properties, McKinstry said.

 

“I would say it is very important as the only surviving example of the domestic work of a known and eminent architect,” he said.

 

Advocates say it should become a museum about the pivotal figure who brought responsible government to Canada.

 

“Its historic role is absolutely clear,” Saul said. “I think it should be a museum. A museum about the birth of democracy in Canada, wh

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Louis+Hippolyte+Fontaine+home+Hope+grows+landmark/5589984/story.html#ixzz1bWe4WIlR

[GDS]

The city should be able to put a lean on the sale price to cover the neglect that was done to this property. At least 10 million should be taken into escrow and used by the city for restoration so that the new promoter is not saddled with that bill making it less attractive to maintain and properly restore the building.

 

On another note, I wouldn't get too excited by this project, Kheng Ly's past is riddled with fraud. Supposedly he is going to go to China now and get investors for his project. As if he wouldn't have been able to secure investors prior the purchasing the land. In all likely hood this property will stay vacant for another 5 years as the CF project gets rolling and the site will be put up for sale again.

[Jollysnork]

The news about Ly is very disappointing. This is a clear care when the private sector has failed. Somebody should step in to protect this house.

[LindbergMTL]

La maison va probablement être transformée en restaurant et café, avec terrasse, entouré de tours à condos et un hotel. Juste une idée comme ça.

[Rocco]

Le problème avec la maison LH Lafontaine est qu'elle fait face à la petite rue au sud de l'ilot et donc totalement cachée et isolée. Avec un projet immobilier d'envergure (disons des tours de 30-40 étages sur René-Lévesque), elle sera complètement obstruée et on ignorera sa présence. Je dis qu'on devrait la déconstruire pierre par pierre et la reconstruire directement sur René-Lévesque, comme point focal d'un projet d'envergure de l'ilot.