McGill College Avenue (officially in french: avenue McGill College) is a street in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

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 ...

, Canada. Named for

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, the street was widened in the 1980s and transformed into a scenic avenue with McGill's

Roddick Gates The Roddick Gates, also known as the Roddick Memorial Gates, are monumental gates in Montreal that serve as the main entrance to the McGill University downtown campus. They are located on Sherbrooke Street West and are at the northern end of t ...

Sherbrooke Street Sherbrooke Street (officially in french: rue Sherbrooke) is a major east–west artery and at in length, is the second longest street on the Island of Montreal. The street begins in the town of Montreal West and ends on the extreme tip of t ...

at its north end and the

Place Ville Marie Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. It serves as the main and official headquarters for Ro ...

plaza at its south end.

History

L'avenue McGill College en direction sud depuis la rue Sherbrooke, Montréal, QC, 1869

The street was first laid out in 1857, on the axis leading up to the original McGill College Building, now the Arts Building of McGill University. Proposals to widen McGill College date back to at least 1952, when the French architect

Jacques Greber Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

submitted a design to the

City of Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

. In 1983, the plan to widen McGill College as a scenic avenue was imperiled by a proposal to house a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

Place Montreal Trust Place Montreal Trust is a shopping mall in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located west of the Eaton Centre, at the corner of Saint Catherine Street and McGill College Avenue in the city's downtown core. With over of stores and services, Place Montrea ...

, with a design for an office tower that would have partially obstructed the view of

Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the hi ...

. The plan encountered public opposition, including from architectural activist

Phyllis Lambert Phyllis Barbara Lambert, (née Bronfman; born January 24, 1927) is a Canadian architect, philanthropist, and member of the Bronfman family. Life Born in Montreal, Quebec, she studied at The Study, a premier independent school for girls, and wa ...

, a member of the board of directors of

Cadillac Fairview The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited is a Canadian company that invests in, owns, and manages commercial real estate, mainly in Canada and the United States. As of March 2017, the company had 73 properties, encompassing 38 million square feet ...

, the project's developer. This idea of a concert hall on McGill College was abandoned in favour of a design for Place Montreal Trust with a wider setback. Montreal's concert hall would instead be built further east, as part of the

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

complex.

Structures

Only four blocks in length, buildings along McGill College include

1981 McGill College 1981 McGill College, also known as The Richter Tower, is an , 20-storey office complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The building was designed by WZMH Architects. It is located on McGill College Avenue at the intersection of De Maisonneuve Boulevar ...

1253 McGill College,

1501 McGill College Le 1501 McGill College, also known as La Tour McGill, is a , 36-storey skyscraper in Downtown Montreal. Named for its address at 1501 McGill College Avenue, it was completed in 1992 at the same time as the city's two tallest buildings, 1000 de L ...

, Place Montreal Trust and its adjoining

Bell Media Tower The Bell Media Tower (Tour Bell Média) is a skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located at 1800 McGill College Avenue, it was built for the Montreal Trust Company, and shared the name Place Montreal Trust with the adjoining mall. It stands ...

, 2000 McGill College and

Centre Eaton , image = Le Centre Eaton de Montréal - panoramio.jpg , image_width = 260px , caption = Interior of the Montreal Eaton Centre (2016) , address = Montreal, QuebecH3B 4G5 , coordinates = , opening_date = 1990 , developer = , manager = Iv ...

. Public art on the street includes the sculpture ''The Illuminated Crowd'' by Raymond Mason, in front of

. The

Mount Royal Tunnel The Mount Royal Tunnel (french: tunnel sous le mont Royal, tunnel du mont Royal) is a railway tunnel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The tunnel is the third longest in Canada, after the Mount Macdonald Tunnel and the Connaught Tunnel, and connects t ...

runs directly under the avenue.

Events

McGill College Avenue (2), Montreal 2005-09-02

During the summer, the west sidewalk is the site of photography exhibitions by the nearby

McCord Museum The McCord Stewart Museum (french: Musée McCord Stewart) is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion, and appreciation of Canadian history. The museum, whose full name is McCord Museum of Canadian His ...

. Since 2001, the street has been the site of the Montréal Fashion and Design Festival, which takes place each year in early August.

References

External links

*
Montréal Fashion and Design Festival
{{Coord, 45.502181, N, 73.571778, W, source:frwiki_region:CA, format=dms, display=title Streets in Montreal Downtown Montreal Odonyms referring to a building