Place des Arts - the massive downtown Montreal block sacrificed for a government concert hall

We all know Place des Arts in its current form, a vast space of concrete that grabs mucho tax dollars away from citizens to the old-fashioned elitist cummerbund-crowd listening to chamber music and opera.

The government-owned Place des Arts transformed a vital area in the heart of downtown from a potentially lucrative revenue source to a source of loads of red ink.

The top photo shows the 45,000 square meter block now occupied by Place des Arts, the top image looking north with St. Catherine running left to right at the bottom. The image below looks southward, with Ontario Street running horizontally near the bottom of the image.

Streets like Plateau, Winning were wiped off the block and others nearby like Platt, Kimberly, Benoit, Vienne, Vallee and others were lost to the wrecking ball.

The block was vulnerable to development largely beacuse much of it was unoccupied.

The seven story Kellert building at the NW corner of St. Urbain and St. Catherine, seen above and below, was built by H.H..Kellert, wholesale clothiers who had a factory on nearby Clark Street.

It was one of the jewels of the downtown area after it was built around 1910, with Francois Xavier Vezina getting killed by a falling beam during the construction in November 1910, while two workers barely escaped death three months later after slipping from a scaffolding two storeys up. The Woodhouse furniture store opened on the ground floor in 1917 and stayed until the end. The building survived a three-hour blaze in 1931. But the entire building went up in flames on Sat. 6 April 1963 in a nasty conflagration that claimed tow firefighters..

The Domique Savio Orphanage sat on the site as well and was forced to move to St. Hubert Street when the building was demolished in August 1960.

A pair of 15x30 foot mural paintings byy Napoleon Bourassa (Henri Bourassa's father, but no relation to Robert Bourassa) adorned its walls. The building was about to be demolished but the government couldn't find a buyer for the works of art and threatened to burn the murals. The building was demolished in August 1960. The murals were transferred to St. Joseph's Oratory.

St. Catherine Street looking east from St. Urbain.

View from Ontario Street.

Another peek southbound from Ontario Street (now President Kennedy).

Politicians gleefully embark on the demolition for an early-60s photo op.

Part of Napoleon Bourassa's murals August 1960

Dominic Savio Chapel August 1960

East side of Jeanne Mance, corner Alicde Sept 1960

Corner Jeanne Mance and Alcide September 1960

The block looking southwest, with the Hydro Quebec building under construction in the background Feb 1961

Workers axe trees, view looking south Feb 1961

View to the south towards Dorchester and Dufferin Park

North side of St. Catherine between Jeanne Mance and St. Urbain July 1960

West side of St. Urbain corner Josephine

West side of St. Urbain, corner de Montigny July 1960.

West side of Jeanne Mance, corner Alcide July 1960.

Looking east on St. Catherine, north side July 1960.

Looking northeast on Winning Street. Tall structure in the middle at Ontario and St. Urbain, remains intact. July 1960.

Looking northeast on Winning Street.

View towards the northeast on Winning Street July 1960.

Entrance to the Plateau Academy on the north side of St. Catherine next to the Woodhouse department store building. July 1960.

Dominic Savio Chapel on the north side of St. Catherine between Jeanne Mance and St. Urbain, Feb. 1960

Demolition at the corner of Winning and Plateau Streets

North side of Plateau Street, June 1960

West side of St. Urbain north of St. Catherine June 1960

Rear of a home on Plateau Street. March 1960

Looking west from Jeanne Mance. March 1960. The International Ladies Garment Union Building in the distance, tha's on the north side of Plateau Street.

Looking east from Jeanne Mance towards Winning Street.

Plateau Academy on the left, on the right the buidlding that housed the Polytechnic School from 1875-1904. Feb 1960.

Winning and Plateau Streets, Feb. 1960

Looking east on Plateau Street, corner Winning, Feb. 1960

Southwest corner of St. Urbain and Ontario, February 1960.

Corner Jeanne Mance and Ontario Feb 1960.

Demolition at Winning and Plateau Streets. January 1960.

St. Catherine and Jeanne Mance. Dec 1959

Looking north on St Urbain from near St. Catherine. June 1960

Corner Plateau and Winning, June 1960.

Demolition begins on the building that housed the Catholic Commercial Academy of Montreal, aka the Plateau Academy, on Winning Street, June 1960.

Looking north on St. Urbain. The tall structure on the right is still there, pretty much all else was wrecking balled. June 1960

West side of St. Urbain, corner Josephine. The Plateau school is in the background. June 1960

Inside a home on Plateau Street, March 1960

Southwest corner of Ontario and St. Urbain, January 1960. Everything was demolished.

Looking east from St. Urbain. Aug 1958.

The Place des Art project was slated to include the Kellert building but that plan changed after it was hit by a blaze that killed a couple of firefighters. It was demolished after that. Aug 1958 photo.

Looking east on St. Catherine August 1958.

South side of St. Catherine. August 1958. These buildings were all demolished for the Guy Favreau building. Pop star Andy Kim's father is said to have run a barber shop in one of these doors.

Looking south from Jeanne Mance with St. Catherine Street buildings in the back. The man is holding a sandwich in his paper bag. August 1958.

Looking west from Jeanne Mance. Aug. 1958.

Looking west from Jeanne Mance. Parking is for the Blumenthal building corner Balmoral and St. Catherine.

Jeanne Mance, west side, near the corner of St. Catherine. Aug 1958

Looking south on Jeanne Mance. The street bore the name St. Georges south of St. Catherine at tha ttime. August 1958.

Protestant Church on West side of Jeanne Mance. Aug 1958

SQ corner Plateau Street and Jeanne Mance. Aug1958.

Looking north from Ontario and St. Urbain. Aug 1958.

Looking south on Plateau Street.

Looking south on Jeanne Mance. Anglican church on the left and the Wilder building on Balmoral Street.

North west corner of Ontario (now President Kennedy) and Jeanne Mance. August 1958.

Ontario Street, north side, between Jeanne Mance and St. Urbain

Ontario Street, north side, corner Platt. All now demolished. August 1958

Ontario and St. Urbain looking north. The church and office tower are still there. The road is wider and the fence and everything to its left is all gone.