THE TOWER CLOCK - Montréal

The Tower Clock, also called Remembrance Tower at the end of the Victoria pier, indicates the hour with its four dials installed on its sides, but they do not always give the right time, it seems. The first reason is that little scoundrels succeed sometimes to stop the six meter pendulum and the second one being that the heat slows down the mechanism. The small hand measures 1.20 meter and the other one two meters. One hundred and ninety two stairs give access to the summit of the tower. A beautiful view expects the slightly breathless visitors...

It was built in 1921-22, after the First World War. The builders had two goals: to honor the memory of the Merchant Navy sailors died during the war (sixty-nine thousand soldiers and sailors would have lost their lives) and to guide vessels entering the port through a Lighthouse lamp. This lamp has been replaced by an Observatory when the tower was restored in 1984, the same year when it was open to the public. An interpretation centre was installed along the stairs. It has been declared a historical monument in 1996.

I read somewhere that there would also be legends about the Tower... The lovers kissing near the Tower would live an eternal love. Those who visit the town and approach the Tower would be sure to come back to Montreal. These are beautiful legends. They bring us back to prehistoric times when mystery impregnated everybody’s life.

HOBOKEN - ST PETER & ST PAUL CHURCH

The Saint Peter and Paul Church in Hoboken is a Roman Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Newark.  It was built in 1889 on Hudson St. in the city of Hoboken N.J.

THE COLD WAREHOUSE - - Montréal

1, Avenue du Port

The Cold Warehouse, a fourteen-storey building, was built in 1922. It is not its seniority which gives it importance but rather its role in commercial infrastructure of the city which is a key witness in the evolution of the old wharf.

The refrigerated warehouse has played an important role because this is where perishable foodstuffs in transit, meats, fruit and vegetables, were kept. Ammonia compressors provided a constant temperature. On the roof, four towers hid a fire protection system. The warehouse has worked until 1965 and one of the towers was used to store brine. Thirteen years later, in 1978, any commercial operation had ceased. The building was vacant for several years.

In 1996, the Government of Canada recognized it as an historic monument. A contractor began the transformation of the building into condominiums. It was a bankruptcy. Finally the Real Estate Management Trams has completed the project and 207 housing units were created. The transformation of the warehouse took place under supervision to keep intact its historic cachet. The old tours on the roof became four penthouses that have a castle look, with a magnificent view on the river and the city. Of course the interior had to be adapted to the new vocation of the building. On the outside, the making of windows in the brick walls resulted in a loss of authenticity and originality.

It is now known as L’Héritage.

DUMAS HOUSE - Old Montreal

445, rue Paul East

Built in 1757, therefore under the French regime, the Dumas House is among the oldest witnesses of Montreal history and the only example of a small-scale house within the ancient city fortifications. Even if it is now known as Toussaint Dumas’s house, he was not the first owner.

Eustace Prévost was a cooper and acquired the land in 1750. He had this one story house built including the ground floor. The basement was a workshop for the manufacture of barrels and casks. He lived there until in 1777. The Prévost family kept the House until 1823. The son, Charles, added a floor in 1798.

A merchant, Toussaint Dumas lived in the premises in 1823. His son Norbert, lawyer, bought the House in 1839. It was used as a source of profit, two apartments being leased. The building remained in the family property until the 1950s. It housed an innkeeper, then a shoemaker, Thomas McCormick and Joseph Ayotte. The House is divided into four units since 1880. Renovations were held around 1885 and others in 1970. Today the building houses two condominiums and is part of a protected environment.