The J.W. McConnell Building is an academic building on the Sir George Williams campus of

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Built in 1992, it is named for

John Wilson McConnell John Wilson McConnell (July 1, 1877 – November 6, 1963) was a Canadian sugar refiner, newspaper publisher, humanitarian and philanthropist in Quebec, Canada. Early life J.W. McConnell was born to a farming family in the Muskoka region of Ont ...

, a Canadian businessman and philanthropist whose foundation contributed to the building's erection. It sits between

Bishop Street Bishop Street (officially in french: rue Bishop) is a north–south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With a total length of 0.6 km, it links Sherbrooke Street in the north to René Lévesque Boulevard in the south. Like n ...

and

Mackay Street Mackay Street (officially in french: rue Mackay) is a street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Mackay Street is a one-way street, that begins at Sherbrooke Street West, travels southbound and ends at Overdale Avenue, just south of Re ...

De Maisonneuve Boulevard De Maisonneuve Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard De Maisonneuve) is a major westbound boulevard located in Downtown Montreal, downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is named after the founder of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve. It ...

in the

Quartier Concordia Quartier Concordia is a neighbourhood redevelopment project centred on Concordia University's Sir George Williams campus in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bordered by Sherbrooke Street, Saint-Mathieu Street, René Lévesque Boulevard and Bis ...

. It is the home of the R. Howard Webster Library, the Departments of English and History as well as the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, the J.A. DeSève Cinema, Birks Student Centre and Welcome Centre.

Architecture

Shortly after its completion, the C$65 million building was criticized as "one of ugliest, most offensive new structures to be erected in Montreal since post-modernist architecture came into its prime." McGill University professor of architecture David Theodore wrote in 2000 that "Concordia's last major project was the 1992 J.W. McConnell building on de Maisonneuve Blvd., which houses the Webster library. Meant to be the heart of the downtown campus, it has been severely criticized; for example, for the clumsy incorporation of the terra cotta facade of the Royal George Apartments on Bishop St.Theodore, D. (2000, May 13). Loyola addition is sober and functional: inal edition The Gazette

References

{{reflist Concordia University buildings and structures 1992 establishments in Quebec University and college buildings completed in 1992