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Côte-des-Neiges
Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce · 87 photographs · 1947–1989
The Roger-Gaudry pavilion’s central tower is 82 metres high. Designed by Ernest Cormier and built between 1928 and 1943, the building combines Beaux-Arts planning with a concrete frame and modern geometric decoration. Its compact plan was intended to bring faculties, schools, departments and a university hospital into a single building. Construction stopped for several years before resuming. The university then moved from Rue Saint-Denis to the mountain, with parts of the new building still unfinished.
Earlier, farms, cemeteries and gardens had shared the slopes of Côte-des-Neiges. In 1852, Notre-Dame parish purchased land for Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery near Mount Royal Cemetery, with Maurice Perreault drawing the initial plans. Patrick McKenna settled on neighbouring land in 1866 and grew flowers in greenhouses for sale. Along what is now Chemin Queen-Mary, villas stood among orchards, gardens and trees, with views towards the Laurentians. The cemetery’s land purchase had taken place while Côte-des-Neiges was still a small village surrounded by agricultural ground.
Key places
- Roger-Gaudry pavilion : Ernest Cormier building with a central tower.
- Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery : land purchased by Notre-Dame parish.
- Queen Mary Road : villas surrounded by gardens and orchards.
Timeline
- 1852 land purchased for Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery.
- 1866 gardener Patrick McKenna settles beside the cemetery.
- 1928 beginning of the Roger-Gaudry construction period.
- 1943 construction of the Roger-Gaudry pavilion completed.
