- Montreal City Hall
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Montreal City Hall Hôtel de Ville de Montréal 
Montreal City Hall in 2006General information Address 275 Notre-Dame Street East Town or city Montreal, Quebec Country Canada Construction started 1872 Renovated 1922, 1932 Design and construction Architect Henri-Maurice Perrault,
Alexander Cowper HutchisonNational Historic Site of CanadaDesignated: 1984 The five-storey Montreal City Hall (French: Hôtel de Ville de Montréal) is the work of architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and was built between 1872 and 1878 in the Second Empire style. It is located in Old Montreal, between Place Jacques-Cartier and the Champ de Mars, at 275 Notre-Dame Street East. The closest metro station is Champ-de-Mars.
As one of the best examples of the Second Empire style in Canada, and the first city hall to have been constructed in the country solely for municipal administration, it was designated a National Historic Site in Canada in 1984.[1][2]
History and architecture
City Hall before the 1922 fire
Construction on the building began in 1872 and was completed in 1878. The building was gutted by fire in March 1922, leaving only the outer wall and destroying much of the city's historic records.[3] The architect Louis Parant was commissioned for the reconstruction, who decided to build an entirely new building with a self-supporting steel structure built inside the shell of the ruins.[3] This new building was modelled after the city hall of the French city of Tours.[4] Other changes included a remodelling of the Mansard roof into a new Beaux-Arts inspired model, with a copper roof instead of the original slate tiles.[3]
In 1967, from this building's balcony Charles de Gaulle, then president of France, gave his Vive le Québec libre speech.[3]
References
- ^ "Montreal City Hall". Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada. Parks Canada. http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/lhn-nhs/det_E.asp?oqSID=0662&oqeName=Montr%E9al+City+Hall&oqfName=H%F4tel+de+ville+de+Montr%E9al. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ^ Montreal City Hall. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Rémillard, 80.
- ^ City of Montreal Web site (in French)
External links
Media related to Montreal City Hall at Wikimedia Commons- Rémillard, Francois. Montreal architecture: A Guide to Styles and Buildings. Montreal: Meridian Press, 1990.
- Montreal City Hall—Hôtel de ville de Montréal
Coordinates: 45°30′31″N 73°33′14″W / 45.508693°N 73.553928°W
National Historic Sites of Canada by locationProvinces Territories Northwest Territories · Nunavut · YukonOther countries FranceCategories:- Buildings and structures completed in 1878
- Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada
- Buildings and structures in Montreal
- City and town halls in Canada
- Landmarks in Montreal
- National Historic Sites in Quebec
- Old Montreal
- Rebuilt buildings and structures in Canada
- Second Empire architecture in Canada
- Building and structure National Historic Sites of Canada
- Burned building and structures in Canada
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