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OUR 2012 ARCHITECTOURS SEASON
This summer, participate in Heritage Montreal’s popular ArchitecTours! From August 4th to September 23rd, discover the origins of Montreal’s neighbourhoods by exploring the traces of their founding villages.
This year, we are proposing eight different ArchitecTours circuits:
- Saint-Louis and Saint-Jean-Baptiste: Two Neighbouring Villages
- Mile End and Outremont: Two Neighbourhoods, Two Cultures
- Little Burgundy: The Neighbourhood Below the Hill
- Saint-Henri: The Gates of Our Industrial Past
- Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: The Creation of a Residential Neighbourhood
- Côte-des-Neiges: The Neighbourhood of Metamorphosis
- Villeray: The Village of the North
- Saint-Laurent: From Agrarian Village to Modern Suburb
All walking tours are two hours long and are offered Saturdays and Sundays in French as well as in English – rain or shine. Tickets go on sale at the departure point fifteen minutes before the designated start time. A maximum of 105 tickets (35 per guide) will be available at each visit, offered on a first come first served basis.
Rates are $10 for Heritage Montreal members (with a valid membership card), $12 for students and seniors, and $14 for non-members. Heritage Montreal is once again offering the popular Special Acces Card, allowing you admission to 4 visits for the price of 3.
For the third year in a row, Heritage Montreal is proud to partner with Ivanhoe Cambridge. The real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépot et de placement du Québec, Ivanhoe Cambridge is one of the 10 largest real estate companies in the world, and has assets in over 24 countries around the world.
Our ArchitecTours are also generously supported by the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine, as well as the City of Montreal, in the context of the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal.

OUR MEMBERSHIP: IN GROWTH MODE
We are pleased to announce that, since May 30th, we now have 700 hundred members supporting Heritage Montreal. This boost of 30% in less than one year brings us to the highest number of members in the last decade! This significant increase shows that over time, Heritage Montreal has acquired credibility worthy of the confidence of those who love Montreal’s heritage.
In addition to the many advantages offered with our membership, our members have the right to weigh in on decisions taken by Heritage Montreal in order to accomplish its mission of representation and education. Thus, on May 31st, members were invited to the Château Ramezay, Historic site and Museum of Montreal, for Heritage Montreal’s Annual General Meeting. The magnificent woodwork of the Salle de Nantes served as the backdrop for the meeting where the 2012 resolutions were adopted.
Furthermore, Messrs Robert Girard and Michel A. Tremblay were elected as new members of the Board of Directors. The assembly warmly thanked Mr. Ross Clark and our outgoing president, Mr. Pierre-André Ouimet, for their dedicated service. To cap off the evening with a flourish, the idea of a Montreal Heritage Centre was broached. Nearing the 375th anniversary of the City of Montreal in 2017 and Heritage Montreal’s 40th in 2015, the time is ripe for our metropolis to have a permanent, emblematic site that exemplifies the values and vision of the Foundation.
150 YEARS OF ACTION: MONTREAL’S EVOLVING HERITAGE

Heritage Montreal is proud to announce a new partnership, in the context of the 150th anniversary of the Archeological and Numismatic Society, with the Château Ramezay – Historic Site and Museum of Montréal. We are pleased to present the exhibit 150 years of action: Montréal’s evolving heritage. This retrospective in images focuses on the theme of urban heritage and the actions taken to protect and enhance it.
The walls of Château Ramezay can still tell their story today thanks to the citizens who saved the building from demolition in their quest to preserve and give voice to this testament of the past. This is a wonderful example of the many actions that have been taken in Montréal to protect our heritage, and many more will be presented within this exhibit.
Through a series of photographic reproductions backlit at night, the exhibition 150 years of action: Montréal’s evolving heritage presents all the wealth and diversity of Montreal’s built heritage. From the “Faubourg à m’lasse” to the Louis Cyr monument, Silo no. 5, Habitat 67 and Place Ville Marie, this exhibition recounts what was, what still is and what could have been…
The free exhibition 150 years of action: Montréal’s evolving heritage, located at Place De La Dauversière, between Château Ramezay and Place Jacques-Cartier, is presented from June 28 to October 8, 2012.
ANNUAL INDIVIDUAL GIVING CAMPAIGN 2012
Deadline to participate extended to July 1st 2012!
Did you know? Moving day used to take place in Montreal every May 1st rather than the 1st of July as illustrated in this delightful silkscreen by Miyuki Tanobe entitled “C’est mai, voici le mois de mai (Bonheur d’occasion).“ Stand a chance to win this signed limited edition silkscreen (44/125) offered by Galerie Valentin by participating in our Annual Iindividual Giving Campaign.
Send in your donation of $100 or more by July 1st 2012 to be included in the draw. Complete details on our web site.
Thank You to all of you who have participated to date!

DEMOLITION OF THE SAINT LAWRENCE SUGAR COOPERAGE

It is with regret that we note the demolition of the old Saint Lawrence Sugar cooperage (4026 Notre-Dame Street East, in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve). The demolitions started on the 10th of June under the orders of the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ). Dating back to 1887, this building constitutes a striking element of the industrial heritage of Maisonneuve, which was known at the time as the “Pittsburgh of Canada”.
During the 2002 Bureau d’Audiences Publique sur l’Environnement (BAPE) consultations on the Notre-Dame Boulevard revitalisation project, Heritage Montreal had already identified the heritage value of this cooperage and the importance of its conservation.
Following the demolitions along Saint-Lawrence Boulevard near the Monument National, we deplore this other case of demolition of industrial heritage in Montreal.
In our June 12, 2012 press release, Dinu Bumbaru declared that “We ask that the demolition of the cooperage cease, that its vestiges be immediately stabilized and be protected from the elements and that the Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal be mandated to conduct consultations necessary to identify criteria and measures needed to ensure the conservation and revitalization of this heritage site”.
Heritage Montreal reiterates its call to provincial and municipal authorities to adopt responsible and transparent behaviour with respect to heritage buildings, in particular regarding decisions on demolitions.
THREATENED SITE UPDATE: LA FONTAINE HOUSE TO BE REVITALIZED?

By 2016, the area surrounding the Bell Centre will be unrecognizable. Good news for the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine house, saved in extremis from demolition 25 years ago by Heritage Montreal and the City of Montreal. One of our threatened sites under observation, its protection is a priority for the new owners of the Overdale block.
According to an article published in La Presse on June 13th 2012, on the metamorphosis of real-estate development near the Bell Centre, the Overdale block, located on René-Lévesque Boulevard between Mackay and Lucien-L’Allier streets, will see the birth of a residential complex that will accommodate nearly 1,200 apartments. Happily, the new owners also say that the revitalisation of the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine house is important to them, that they are conscious of its national historic value, and that they would like to see it accessible to the public.
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45th ANNIVERSARY OF EXPO 67

Founded in 2010, The Expo 67 Foundation is proud to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Expo 67 in 2012 and to announce its preparations for the 50th anniversary, coming up in 2017 (alongside the 375th of the City of Montreal).
The Foundation’s mission is to act as an information hub and to bring a contemporary perspective to this historic event.
To find out more, and to become a Friend of Expo 67, visit their website. |
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ELSWHERE IN CANADA:
In an article published in the urban blog Torontoist on June 19th, we recently learned that a report presented by the City Planning Division to the Planning and Growth Management Committee emphasizes the importance of heritage conservation in city plans.
The committee is partially responsible for the creation of Toronto’s version of the Plan d’Aménagement et de Développement (PMAD) of Montreal. Among many interesting topics, we note:
- Stronger policies for maintenance of heritage structures are needed to avoid ‘demolition by neglect’.
- The retention of facades alone is poor conservation practice and the City should emphasize the retention of significant portions of buildings.
- The City needs emergency protocols for dealing with situations where heritage buildings and archaeological sites are threatened by unanticipated events (e.g. fire, flood) or discoveries.
- Stronger and more specific policies for the identification and protection of important views and vistas are required.
Many of these points figure among Heritage Montreal’s conservation and planning priorities for our metropolis. It is encouraging to see other Canadian cities also following this path.
Let’s continue our work to ensure that Montreal dotes itself with a comprehensive heritage policy that ensures the realisation of its full potential! |
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