Between 1896 and 1898 on the South side of Saint-Antoine Street, this magnificent heritage building was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co and used as a railroad station until in 1912 before becoming a hotel in 1935. Later it sheltered the employees and offices of the Federal Government followed by those of the city of Montreal until 1950. A new owner appeared in 2006.
There is an obvious similarity between the Viger Station and Quebec Château Frontenac. The two buildings were built by the same Bruce Price, an architect famous for his New York skyscrapers. It gave birth to a Canadian architectural style called “castle style”. It’s a mixture of the Loire castles and Scottish manors architecture. The President of the Canadian Pacific, William Van Horne, commanded the construction of the Viger station. The orange briks came from Scotland (!) and the gray stones from Montreal.
Its history is not without a few incidents. For example, on December 31, 1909, about a hundred people, present to say goodbye to family and friends going to Quebec City, were hit by a terrible gas explosion (gas was used to illuminate the cars at that moment). It was said that they were “projected in the air and that about “30 were more or less injured”. Total: 22 wounded. There was little damage however. The wharf pave was broken almost totally. The cause of the explosion has never been discovered.
Nine years earlier, same date and same time, another incident had occurred. While the train was moving, a man was beheaded. The head was found about two feet off the track. Was it a suicide? An accident? Another mystery for Sherlock Holmes.
The future of the station seems to be totally different. A $ 400 million project has been proposed: eight new buildings would be erected including an 18-storey tower, the old station would again be used as a hotel and two luxury residential and commercial structures would be build one on each side of the actual station. Consultations are underway. What will this building be in the future? History will tell.
