History

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History
Difficult to imagine today that on the exact location of the Champ-de-Mars metro station( )
and Sanguinet exit of the Ville-Marie Expressway,
stood a lively neighbourhood where children
played in the streets. Between 1950 and 1980,
Montréal underwent major transformation with
the construction of Boulevard Dorchester (now
René-Lévesque), the metro, and Ville-Marie and
Bonaventure expressways. This had significant impact on the shape of the city, especially the outline
of Old Montréal.
The actual site of the Champ-de-Mars metro
station also has undergone major transformation
throughout its history, and the city has proposed a
metamorphosis to adapt the site to modern values,
aspirations and needs.
S.A Map of Montréal in 1758 before the Capitulation, digital collection
Background
The Champ-de-Mars metro station sector was
located outside the fortified city, northeast of the
hill it occupied, near the Saint-Martin Stream, on
marshland that was subject to flooding and unsuitable for building. This relative isolation was
compounded when the city was fortified between
1685 and 1817.
1927, BANQ digital collection
At the end of the 18th century, more than two
thirds of the city population lived in the faubourgs.
In 1804, the commissioners’ plan, drawn up by
Louis Charland, provided for the demolition of the
fortification walls and construction of a series of
boulevards and public places aimed at cleaning,
beautifying and making the area more convenient,
and also at providing a better link between Old
Montréal and the adjacent neighbourhoods.
The first Place Viger was planned in 1817, then
built north of Rue Saint-Antoine, on either side of
Rue Saint-Denis. In 1825, Saint-Antoine was developed and the Saint-Martin Stream was canalized
towards its centre, then underground between
McGill and Sanguinet streets. The area enjoyed a
privileged location, across from the Champ-deMars, former courthouse and city hall between the
armoury and Square Viger.
Plan of Montréal and the faubourgs in 1825, John Adams and James De Forrest, McGill University
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The emergence of a new Francophone downtown
around Rue Saint-Denis and Square Viger marked
the beginning of the 20th century. However,
industrial facilities and working-class housing gradually replaced Francophone institutions around
Square Viger. The Francophone bourgeoisie moved
north of the downtown area.
Rue Panet, under Rue Saint-Denis and Square Viger,
requiring complete redevelopment of the square.
It was designed and completed in 1983-84 by artists Charles Daudelin, Claude Théberge and Peter
Gnass at the instigation of the Ville de Montréal
and Gouvernement du Québec.
These works gave new metropolitan status to the
area. However, the Ville-Marie acted as a cut-off
and required an indirect and uninviting route from
the metro station to Old Montréal.
Aerial view of the expressway – Section C, Service de l’urbanisme,
Ville de Montréal, 1954
The construction of the Montréal metro in the
1960s helped to link the neighbourhood with Old
Montréal. The metro station across from city hall
was given special attention and used to display a
monumental stained glass window by artist Marcelle Ferron. The construction of the Ville-Marie
Expressway which ended at the Sanguinet ramp,
required that a significant portion of the southern
tip of the Saint-Laurent and Saint-Louis faubourgs
be demolished. This concrete river followed the
path of the former stream and fortifications, a
larger new border separating Old Montréal and the
neighbourhoods to the north. At the end of the
70s, the expressway was extended in trenches to
Advertisement of the Palais des congrès de Montréal, 1983
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Champ-de-Mars, southern view. Sketch completed in 2008, Ville de Montréal
Steps involved in the covering
In 1983, construction of the Palais des congrès de
Montréal involved covering a section of the expressway between Saint-Urbain and Jeanne-Mance
streets. The Quartier international de Montréal
was launched in the year 2000 with an exemplary design integrating major achievements such
as Square Victoria, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, the
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Building
and the Palais des congrès annex. In 2004, a decision was made to build the Université de Montréal
hospital and research centres, the CHUM, and
CRCHUM, on a site east of the metro station, between Rue Sanguinet and Square Viger.
Champ-de-Mars metro station and Old Montréal.
With the announcements of large building projects in the CHUM area, Montréal now wishes to
redevelop the Champ-de-Mars sector. So, a new
public space will be built above the expressway, as
announced by the city and the Gouvernement du
Québec.
In 2010, the Ville de Montréal launched an idea
competition for the development of the Champde-Mars metro sector following a drawing produced by the city in 2008. It showed the possibilities of developing a public space linking the
Champ-de-Mars metro station
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