Montage du jour : Intersection de la rue Sherbrooke et du boulevard St-Laurent

13 comments

1. Such an extreme difference!

2. But the 55 existed already back then – and apparently it didn’t only go up St Laurent at this corner, but also down.

3. The age of the automobiles indicate the photo is from the mid-Fifties.

   Streetcars were removed from the Main in the fall of 1952, the autobus shown is a Mack from Mack Trucks, constructed in 1952.

   Mack busses had a panache all their own, were peppy, for a bus, and were good on hills, in their day, often used on Route 144 Pine ex Atwater Terminus by the Forum.

   Mack busses ‘lived’ in the East End and were not often seen West of Atwater.

   As children, we would often take a hot humid summer day to go ride the Trolley Busses and try and work in a trip on a Mack on the same transfer if we could.

   Mack busses definitely had their own style.

   A later-model 1956 Mack Autobus.

   http://www.stm.info/English/en-bref/a-3303.htm

   ( An aside. There were special busses used for students that travelled on routes not frequented by ‘normal’ MTC autobus service.

   These autobusses had a removeable yellow placard under the right rear window with the word ‘Ecoliers’ in black thereupon.

   As these busses went out early, they were often fitted with tire chains on the rear wheels to get through the snow and could be heard clack-clacking along in the darkness just before daybreak letting a child still warm and cozy in bed know it had snowed outside even before looking thru the curtains.

   To this end, Can Car autobusses in the 2500-2549 series had lower gearing and sanders ahead of the rear wheels for mountain work, and they often were out in Ecoliers snow service. )

   As much as we love our old structures, one might feel apprehensive walking beneath the turrets, gargoyles, pinnicles, steeples and other roof jewelery on aging buildings on a windy day after years of smog, rain, snow and frost taking their toll.

   On concrete elevated highways and bridges it is sometimes referred to as ‘spalling’ as weathering concrete cracks and falls to the street below.

   Toronto has this problem, and a friend called it, not totally in jest, ‘The Gardner Effect.’

   Thank You.

4. Une tragédie, mais l’ancienne édifice me rappelle un peu le Baxter Block, plus au nord et de l’autre côté de St-Laurent.

5. La désolation n’est pas tant dans la perte de ce beau petit immeuble à l’architecture original qui fut probablement démoli à cause d’un feu mais plutot à la construction de cet affreux ”bloc” gris de 3 étages situé sur un coin de rue de grande visibilité. Il ne faut pas oublier qu’en face il y a aussi une station service !!! 2 verrues face à face !!!

6. I always love CDNLOCOCO comments – I wish he or she wrote a blog!

7. This is one of the most upsetting before/after shots I’ve seen! What a way to ruin a corner on the “most famous street in Canada”.

   Montreal seems to have been ravaged by fire more extensively than other cities but that’s probably not the case. Montreal just had (and still has) some of the nicer and older architecture in North America to lose.

   I hope the once fine old building on the Main and des pins will be saved, why are there so few laws requiring owners to protect historic buildings like other cities seem to have.

   PS: RIP Seville Theatre…

8. Oof! Brutal. Scrolling down to the second photo is like getting punched in the gut.

9. I’m still trying to wrap my head around why the quality of building materials and aesthetics, as well as architectural creativity, appears to have degraded over the decades rather than improved. I’m assuming it is a reflection and result of mass-production… churning out as many buildings as possible for the lowest cost – and highest profit – possible.

   I look forward to the day when mass production, aesthetics, and quality workmanship are fairly balanced. I see great things on the horizon for both architecture and urban design.

   All to say, what a gorgeous set of heritage buildings sadly reduced to it’s mass-produced counterpart.

10. …I’ve been in one of these condos, and it wasn’t half bad, actually, and the view across the street looking at the Opus and the older buildings is quite nice.
    Niomi, before you dispair, check out this great little book on Montréal’s excellent modern architecture. There is a lot of it, you just have to look for it: http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/a-guidebook-to-contemporary-architecture-in-montreal

11. C’était comme mauditement plus beau avant comme le diraient certains…

12. I remember when the current building was constructed, thinking, “Doesn’t the developer know what an important corner he is building on? Does he know this isn’t some bland suburban mid-block in Brossard?

    Answer: No, he doesn’t. He only knows how much each brick costs.

13. Tragic! truly tragic. the fact that someone commented that is ok because once you’re inside, it’s not that bad… is very sad, i find. because that’s exactly what the thinking is when they make such faux-pas: “oh it’s ok, it will be nice inside and people will WANT to have such an exclusive location with a nice modern interior and they’ll pay big bucks for it”. UGH.

    i don’t understand why the same couldn’t be achieved while trying to respect the original architecture, why did they go with bland & generic, when they had they had such an beautiful design to take inspiration from?

    what makes it worse is that horrible tower next to it… why where these EVER permitted????