Place Viger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Place Viger |
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Place Viger in 2014
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| Former names |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Châteauesque |
| Coordinates | 45°30′45″N 73°33′12″W / 45.512478°N 73.553244°W |
| Construction started | 1898 |
| Dimensions | |
| Other dimensions | Grounds: 38,317 m2 (412,440 sq ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 10,219 m2 (110,000 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Bruce Price |
Place Viger was a very special building in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was built in 1898 and worked as both a fancy hotel and a busy railway station. It was named after Jacques Viger, who was Montreal's first mayor.
Having a hotel and a train station in one building was common in the United Kingdom back then. But Place Viger was the only building like it in all of Canada.
Contents
A Grand Design for Montreal
Place Viger was designed by an architect named Bruce Price. It was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway company. The building was placed in a very important part of Montreal. It was close to the city's financial area, the city hall, the port, and the court house.
The mayor of Montreal at the time, Raymond Préfontaine, really wanted this building. He wanted it in an area that was important to French Canadian families. This was different from another big hotel, the Windsor Hotel, which was seen as more for English-speaking people.
The train station part of Place Viger was the end point for Canadian Pacific passenger trains coming from the north and east. It took the place of an older station called Dalhousie Station. Another station, Windsor Station, was the end point for trains coming from the south and west.
A Castle-Like Building
Place Viger was built in a style called Châteauesque. This style looks like a French castle and was often used for railway hotels built by Canadian Pacific. The train station was on the lower floors, and the fancy hotel was on the upper floors.
The building was also next to the beautiful gardens of Viger Square. This meant that both train travelers and hotel guests could enjoy walks in the gardens.
From Grandeur to Neglect
Over time, Montreal's main business area moved to a different part of the city. Also, the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, which was a very tough economic time. These changes were bad for Place Viger.
The hotel had to close in 1935. Then, in 1951, the railway station also closed. The City of Montreal bought the building. Its inside was completely changed to become simple office spaces. The building was then renamed Édifice Jacques-Viger.
Changes to Viger Square
In the 1970s, the original Viger Square gardens were destroyed. This happened to make way for a highway called the Autoroute Ville-Marie. After the highway was finished, a new Viger Square was built on top of the concrete covering the highway. However, this new square was not well-designed and was often empty, even with art by artists like Charles Daudelin.
For many years, the old Place Viger building sat alone and forgotten. It was a beautiful old building surrounded by parking lots and concrete.
A New Beginning
In 2003, there were plans to give Place Viger a new purpose. The Commission scolaire de Montréal (Montreal School Board), the City of Montreal, and the Quebec government announced that the building would become a new school for tourism.
In 2004, the Borough of Ville-Marie also announced plans to fix up the nearby public gardens. They wanted to replace much of the concrete in Viger Square with trees, paths, and green spaces.
In 2005, Place Viger was sold to a company that wanted to turn it into apartments and a new hotel. But this company ran into money problems and sold the property again in 2012.
In May 2014, a new owner, a real estate company called Jesta, announced a big plan. They would spend $250 million to redevelop the complex. This plan included new homes and office spaces. In September of that same year, a software company called Lightspeed said they would move their Montreal offices to the Viger complex. Lightspeed moved into the historic Viger building in April 2015, bringing new life to this important landmark.
