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You might not have passed by 550 Poupart lately or even in this lifetime. I'm certainly not saying that you should pass by there either.
But it was an essential stop for would-be cops from 1961 to 1969 when it served as the training grounds for Montreal police.
If you don't know where this is, consider that area around Iberville and St. Catherine. Well this is just a short walk south from there, at the corner of Notre Dame.
Somewhere along the line those streets were configured so that they became a dead end and traffic could no longer get to Notre Dame. Bit of a shame.
Keep in mind that the area around this school is pretty moribund. It was probably relatively sleepy at the time too. A stroll along nearby St. Catherine St E. is a pretty dull venture nowadays.
All of the retail on nearby St. Catherine has been turned into housing with the exception of one corner store and another thing. About 20 years back there was a sexy waitress joint at the corner of Iberville but even that is residential now. There was surely a tavern or two around there back in the 60s.
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| Area from overhead 1948 |
In around 1968 or 1969 police training moved onto the town of Nicolet, Quebec somewhere up near Three Rivers or something. Surely the land is plentiful up there, so there's no shortage of space for such tasks as training police dogs.
One might consider debating whether it's appropriate for Montreal cops to be trained in such a sleepy hollow but I won't address it here.
There's no trace of any public discussion about the move away from Poupart but it quietly disappeared, with its final occupation housing the Hotel School for a brief emergency spell.
There's some sort of subsdizied housing project on the site now.
So if you ever happen to stumble by this building - and I can assure you without doubt that you will not - remember the young ambitious cops who cut their teeth in the spot in the swinging sixties.