The University Club building, a venerable downtown structure sitting just a stone's throw from McGill's Roddick Gates since Dec. 17, 1913, is for sale.Club board members passed a pair of resolutions last night at a meeting to decide the fate of the building at 2047 Mansfield.
The club will leave the building on Dec. 31 and relocate for 2018 at the St. James Club at 1145 Union, just north of Dorchester.
The University Club might then merge with the St. James Club, or the Mount Royal Club or find another premises for its operations. Those decisions have yet to be taken.
The University Club building is known for its leather armchairs, brass-topped tables, fireplaces, stained glass windows, creaky old wooden elevator and a grand staircase.
The provincial government agreed with the club's demand to classify it as a historic monument in 1986, so there's little chance it will be demolished or greatly renovated.
According to a 2014 article by Robert Wilkins, the club paid $45,100 for the property in 1911 and had a building demolished to create space for the new structure, which was designed by Scottish architect Percy Nobbs, who ran the McGill school of architecture.The building was done up in the Georgian style with a limestone facade and redbrick upstairs. It's similar to his work at what's now the McCord Museum. The club mused about moving to another location in 1930 but opted to stick around.
The club now has about 700 membres.