Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard Saint-Laurent), is a major street in
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- ...
,
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 thirte ...
, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north–south through the near-centre of city and is nicknamed The Main (french: La Main), which is the abbreviation for "
Main Street".
The Main
Beginning at
De la Commune Street
Rue de la Commune ( en, De la Commune Street) is a road in Old Montreal which is well used both by Montrealers and by tourists, since it is the home of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum and the Old Port of Montreal. It also extends eastward into t ...
at the edge of the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
, it transects the
Island of Montreal
The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...
, passing through the
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
of
Ville-Marie,
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The Plateau-Mont-Royal takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mont-Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, across ...
,
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie (formerly known as Rosemont and Rosemont—Petite-Patrie) is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979.
Geography
The district includes ...
,
Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, and
Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Ahuntsic-Cartierville ( (local accent)) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created following the 2002 municipal reorganization of Montreal. It comprises two main neighbourhoods, Ahuntsi ...
to Rue Somerville at the edge of the
Rivière des Prairies – a total length of about 11.25 km (7 miles).
Saint Laurent Boulevard's cardinal direction, on a pseudo north–south axis strongly deported to the west, and aligned with the summer
solstice
A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many count ...
's setting sun, was outlined by the
Sulpicians towards the end of the 17th century. The first post-colonial landowners of the island, then preoccupied to develop a genuine urban
cadastre
A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref>
Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...
on the
Coteau Saint-Louis, built a small street, which they named Saint-Lambert, perpendicularly to
Notre-Dame Street. Saint-Lambert Street is clearly identified on a plan drawn by
François Dollier de Casson
François Dollier de Casson (1636 – 27 September 1701) was born in France into a wealthy bourgeois and military family. He began his adult life in the army which he left after three years to continue his studies and become a priest.
After beco ...
in 1672. In the early 18th century, when the
lords
Lords may refer to:
* The plural of Lord
Places
*Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina
*Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club
People
*Traci Lords (born 19 ...
of Montreal decided to develop agricultural land further north on the island, they prolonged this little street to build a ''King's Way'' exactly along the same axis and named it Chemin Saint-Laurent.
Chemin Saint-Laurent became a
boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
in 1905 and is often referred to as ''The Main''. It serves as the city's physical division of east and west (in Montreal parlance; in reality east is more like north-northeast and west is south-southwest). Street numbers begin at Saint Lawrence and continue outward, with street names being suffixed by Ouest (West) or Est (East), depending on their orientation.
The boulevard traditionally divides Montreal by language, ethnicity, and class. Saint Laurent Boulevard was for generations the symbolic dividing line for the city, with the predominantly English-speaking population to the west, French-speaking population to the east, and immigrant communities in between along the Main and Park Avenue. The Main runs through many of Montreal's ethnic communities, a first stop for immigrant communities for over 100 years — initially Jewish, Chinese and Italian, and later Portuguese, Greek, Arab, Haitian and others.
National Historic Site
In 2002 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada named Saint Lawrence Boulevard as ''
The Main National Historic Site of Canada.'' Then Minister of Heritage,
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps (born November 27, 1952) is a former Canadian politician who also served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Canada from November 4, 1993, to April 30, 1996, and June 19, 1996, to June 11, 1997. Her father, Victor Copps, ...
, speaking at the ceremony, said: "our country does not belong to just two founding peoples. It belongs to all Canadians.
his isa first step toward a new story of Canada that includes all of our partners as equals."
[Hamilton, Graeme. "'The Main' Acknowledged as Historic Site." '']National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
''. 28 September 2002, page A5.
Historic Jewish Quarter
The Jewish community on the Main sprang up after the heavy immigration of the early to mid-1900s. Jewish settlement occurred first on the lower Main, in a section that now is part of
Montreal's Chinatown.
By 1871 a Jewish enclave numbering just over 400 people had formed by the corner of St. Lawrence and
Dorchester Street, with the first Jewish educational institution, the Talmud Torah, located at the corner of
Saint Urbain Street and
De la Gauchetière Street. Middle-class members of the community were already beginning to move up the Main towards
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...
and Prince Arthur Streets, while further west, a small number of well-off Jews lived near
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 Univer ...
.
The main axes of the Jewish quarter were Saint Laurent Boulevard, Clark Street, Saint Urbain Street, Esplanade Street and
Park Avenue, Montreal
Park Avenue (officially in french: Avenue du Parc) is one of central Montreal's major north-south streets. It derives its name from Mount Royal Park, by which it runs. Between Mount Royal Avenue and Pine Avenue, the street separates the eastern si ...
. By the 1930s dozens of synagogues were in the area.
Culinary landmarks on Saint Laurent that bear witness to this historic community include
Schwartz's
Schwartz's (French: ''Chez Schwartz''), also known as the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen (French: ''Charcuterie Hébraïque de Montréal, Inc.''), is a Jewish delicatessen restaurant and take-out, located at 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montre ...
and
Moishes Steakhouse
Moishes Steakhouse is one of the oldest restaurants in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1938 by Moishe Lighter, it was initially called "Romanian Paradise." Legend has it that Lighter, an immigrant from Romania to Canada, became the owner of t ...
.
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
was the common language in the Jewish district on Saint Laurent Boulevard, with many Jewish immigrants working in clothing factories, once the street's main industry.
Overall, Montreal was the main destination for the 125,000 Jews who settled in Canada between 1905 and 1920, making the area a centre of Yiddish language and culture (e.g.
theater in that language). Despite Canada's poor record of Jewish immigration between 1933 and 1948, Montreal became home to the world's third-largest concentration of
Holocaust survivors
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally acce ...
, most of them Yiddish speakers.
Other cultural institutions such as the
Jewish Public Library operated in more than one language.
Culture
Montreal featured the fifth-largest population of
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
speakers in the Americas, after New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Buenos Aires; by 1930, 60,000 Yiddish speakers lived on or around The Main.
The district was home to the second-largest
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...
in North America from 1896 to the 1940s, with shows at vaudeville houses along the Main as well as the
Monument-National
The Monument-National is a historic Canadian theatre located at 1182 Saint Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec. With a capacity of over 1,600 seats, the venue was erected between 1891 and 1894 and was originally the cultural centre of the Sai ...
, now a National Historic Site and part of the
National Theatre School of Canada.
The Main was also a centre of Jewish publishing. In 1907 a young Polish Jewish immigrant,
Hirsch Wolofsky
Hirsch (Harry) Wolofsky (1878–1949), was a Canadian Yiddish author, publisher/editor and business owner.
Biography
Wolofsky was born in Szydłowiec, Poland, into an Hasidic community. He received a traditional Jewish education until orphane ...
, started the Yiddish-language daily newspaper ''
Keneder Adler
''Der Keneder Adler'' () was Canada's leading Yiddish newspaper from 1907 until 1977. Founded in Montreal by Hirsch Wolofsky, the ''Adler'' underpinned Yiddish cultural activity in the city for much of the 20th century.
History
After losing his ...
'' (English: ''Canadian Eagle''). The paper was initially published from an office on St. Lawrence near Ontario Street. However, when the ''Adler'' became successful, Wolofsky moved the paper to its own building at 4075 St. Lawrence, near Duluth Street. The paper would publish for more than 80 years. Today Wolofsky is remembered with a small park in his honour on Rue Coloniale, between Prince-Arthur and Sherbrooke.
Politics
The poor Jewish quarter had a distinctly left-wing slant.
Fred Rose represented the Main's Cartier riding until 1947, when he was expelled from the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
after a controversial conviction on charges of spying for the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. To this day the Main remains the only part of Canada ever represented in Parliament by an openly Communist MP.
Area city councillor
Joseph Schubert, a Romanian Jew, was a socialist and admirer of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
. Elected to Montreal City Council in 1924, he was the council's most prominent advocate of worker's rights for 15 years. In 1931, he built a public bathhouse at the corner of Bagg and St. Lawrence, which still stands today as the Schubert Bath (official French name: ''Bain Schubert'').
Decline
By the 1950s many Jews had moved to other communities, and most synagogues were demolished or converted to other uses.
The
Bagg Street Shul is the only synagogue still remaining. Former prominent Jewish-run businesses on the street included Ida Steinberg's grocery store, founded in 1917 on St. Lawrence near Mount Royal, which went on to become
Steinberg's, Quebec's largest supermarket chain.
Another supermarket, Warshaw's, was the subject of controversy when the city of Montreal was forced to pay damages after first approving and then rejecting changes to its iconic storefront.
The exterior signage for Warshaw's is on permanent display as part of th
Montreal Signs Projectat
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 ...
's Loyola campus. As of 2003 fewer than 10 Jewish-owned and family-run businesses remained on the Main between
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 ...
and
Mount Royal Avenue.
Neighbourhoods
Today, the stretch of Saint Laurent boulevard is home to, from south to north:
*
Old Montreal
Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...
(from the shores of the
St. Lawrence River to Viger Street)
*
Montreal's Chinatown (between Viger Street and
René Lévesque Boulevard
René Lévesque Boulevard (french: Boulevard René-Lévesque), previously named Dorchester Boulevard () is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borou ...
)
*A small
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...
surviving between
René Lévesque Boulevard
René Lévesque Boulevard (french: Boulevard René-Lévesque), previously named Dorchester Boulevard () is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borou ...
and
Saint Catherine Street
Sainte-Catherine Street (french: rue Sainte-Catherine) () is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and d ...
, in the area of the
Monument National
*The
Quartier des spectacles (between
Saint Catherine and
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...
streets)
*The Main bar district (roughly between
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...
and Duluth streets),
*Montreal's
Little Portugal, clustered around Duluth and Rachel Streets
*
Mile End
Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...
between
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 ...
and Van Horne Avenues
*
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...
between Saint Zotique and
Jean-Talon
Jean-Talon is a provincial electoral riding in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. It consists of part of the Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge borough of Quebec City.
It was named after former French colonial administrator of New ...
streets
*The eastern edge of
Jarry Park beside
Jarry Street
Rue Jarry (french: rue Jarry) is a street on the Island of Montreal which stretches from Boulevard de l'Acadie in the west to Boulevard Ray-Lawson to the east. It is named for settler of St. Laurent, Quebec Bernard Bleignier dit Jarry.
The ...
*''Quartier de la Mode'', formerly the centre of Canada's clothing manufacturing, around the corner of
Chabanel Street in the
Ahuntsic
Ahuntsic (; French pronunciation ) is a district in the northern part of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Originally an independent village, Ahuntsic was first annexed by Montreal in 1910, then merged into the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville in 2002. ...
section of the borough of
Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Ahuntsic-Cartierville ( (local accent)) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created following the 2002 municipal reorganization of Montreal. It comprises two main neighbourhoods, Ahuntsi ...
*Parc Nicolas-Viel, on the north side of Rue Somerville on the shore of the
Rivière des Prairies
Despite the origin of its name, the Boulevard does not enter the borough of
Saint-Laurent, which is entirely to its west.
Famous residents
The Main has produced many of Canada's most prolific individuals in the arts and has acted as a memory space. Novelists
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
,
Rejean Ducharme and
Michel Tremblay
Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright.
Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood wit ...
and poets
Irving Layton,
A. M. Klein and
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
were all influenced by this area. Canada's most prestigious award for fiction, the
Scotiabank Giller Prize
The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...
, was named after journalist
Doris Giller, a native to the area.
Depictions in popular culture
Sass Jordan
Sass Jordan (c. 1962) is a British-born Canadian rock singer from Montreal, Quebec. Her first single, "Tell Somebody," from her debut album of the same name won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989. Since then, she has been ...
's 1992 hit single "Going Back Again" also depicts Saint Lawrence Boulevard as the dividing line between Montreal's English and French cultures, expressing the hope that "Someday we will come together Lord/Reach across this great divide".
Trevanian
Rodney William Whitaker (June 12, 1931 – December 14, 2005) was an American film scholar and writer who wrote several novels under the pen name Trevanian. Whitaker wrote in a wide variety of genres, achieved bestseller status, and publishe ...
's 1976 novel ''The Main'' is set in the more run-down district of the sixties, before the modern renaissance.
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- ...
singer
Cœur de pirate's 2011 album ''
Blonde
Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...
'' includes a song entitled "Saint-Laurent" that refers to the street. Saint Laurent Boulevard is also mentioned in ''
The Blacklist
''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...
'' (2013), as the location where Raymond 'Red' Reddington (played by
James Spader
James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scie ...
) takes Agent Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Keen (
Megan Boone
Megan Boone (born April 29, 1983) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as FBI agent and profiler Elizabeth Keen on the NBC drama series '' The Blacklist''. She had a recurring role in '' Law & Order: LA'' and an episodic appe ...
) to meet his liaison for the next attack, within the second episode of the first season, entitled "The Freelancer".
Businesses and attractions
Numerous art galleries and other cultural organisations make their home on the Main, including
La Centrale gallerie Powerhouse,
Théâtre Espace Go, the
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
The Festival du nouveau cinéma or FNC (English: ''Festival of New Cinema'') is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, featuring independent films from around the world. Over 160,000 people attend each year. One of ...
, the Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, the Montreal
Fringe Festival
Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...
, Image & Nation Festival, the Society for Arts and Technology, and the
Native Friendship Centre of Montreal The Native Friendship Centre of Montreal (French: ''Centre d'amitié autochtone de Montréal'') is a Native Friendship Centre for Indigenous people in Montreal. It opened in 1974 (as a drop-in centre) located on Bishop Street in Montreal. In 1975 ...
. Many well-known music venues can also be found on the Main, including
Casa del Popolo
Casa del Popolo is a bar, bistro, and music venue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Saint Laurent Boulevard in the borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. Its name is Italian for "House of the People".
It was established in September 2000 by Mauro Pezz ...
, Sala Rosa, Club Soda, Barfly, Jupiter Room, Club Lambi, The Academy Club and Divan Orange.
Gastronomic highlights include
Schwartz's
Schwartz's (French: ''Chez Schwartz''), also known as the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen (French: ''Charcuterie Hébraïque de Montréal, Inc.''), is a Jewish delicatessen restaurant and take-out, located at 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montre ...
deli and the nearby
Main Deli Steak House
The Main Deli Steak House, also known simply as Main Deli, is a delicatessen and steakhouse located in Montreal, Quebec. The restaurant was established in 1974 by Peter Varvaro and currently located on Saint Laurent Boulevard right across the stre ...
, both serving
Montreal-style smoked meat
Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or simply smoked meat in Quebec (French: ''smoked-meat''; sometimes ''viande fumée'' or even ''bœuf mariné'': Literally “marinated beef”) is a type of kosher-style deli meat product made ...
, as well as the
Montreal Pool Room
The Montreal Pool Room is a well-known and well-regarded greasy spoon restaurant, located in the city's former red-light district on Saint Laurent Boulevard, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The restaurant has been open since 1912 (registered 1921) an ...
, serving
Montreal hot dogs since 1912.
The first movies in North America were screened at the
Édifice Robillard on 27 June 1896, making this venue the first cinema in both Canada and the United-States. The building was destroyed by fire on 17 November 2016. Other noteworthy and now defunct ventures include the original Cinéma Parallèle,
Dummies Theatre, Lux,
Excentris and
Softimage
Autodesk Softimage, or simply Softimage () was a 3D computer graphics application, for producing 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling, and computer animation. Now owned by Autodesk and formerly titled Softimage, XSI, the software has been predomi ...
.
In early June, Saint-Laurent Boulevard becomes the host of the
MURAL Festival, an international public art event that attracts artists from all over the world. MURAL celebrates creativity in a street context. For the occasion, the street is closed to car traffic between
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 ...
and
Mount Royal Avenue. The festival attracts around 800,000 visitors each year and won Montreal's Grand Prize of tourism for its first edition in 2013.
Since 2003, Montreal
bike couriers organise an illegal
time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...
race named Beat the Main where dozen of cyclists dash the entire 11.5 km (7 mile) stretch between rue de la Commune and boulevard Gouin, mostly ignoring traffic lights and regulations.
The Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL) is a merchant's association promoting the economic, social and cultural development of Saint-Laurent Boulevard between Sherbrooke Street and Mont-Royal Avenue.
Transportation
Along most of its length, from Rue St-Antoine northward to just south of Rue Jean-Talon, the street is one-way northbound. The northbound leg of the
55 St-Laurent bus route runs along the street, returning south via Rue Clark and
Rue St-Urbain.
Saint-Laurent station on the
Green Line of the
Montreal Metro and
De Castelnau station on the
Blue Line are situated on Saint Laurent Boulevard. On the
Orange Line,
Place-d'Armes station
Place-d'Armes station is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Orange Line. It is located in Old Montreal.
The statio ...
is also nearby.
Redevelopment and construction
The corner of Saint Lawrence and
Saint Catherine streets is still known as a
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...
, although its days appear numbered as a proposed $167-million development is slated to transform the area, now part of the city's new
Quartier des Spectacles.
In 2007 and 2008, a section of the street between Sherbrooke street and Mont-Royal avenue underwent extensive construction work, which forced some businesses to close.
Notes
References
*Podmore, Julie. 1999. ''St. Lawrence Boulevard as a Third City: Place, Gender and Difference along Montréal's 'Main'.'' PhD Dissertation: McGill University.
*Tremblay, Michel. 1976. ''Sainte Carmen de la Main''. Montréal: Leméac.
*Richler, Mordecai. 1969. ''The Street''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
*Wolofsky, Sandy. Feb 14, 2005 "I've got ink in my veins:I never met him, but my great-grandfather has inspired my life's work" Maclean's Magazine
External links
Société de développement du boulevard St-LaurentA list of all restaurants along boulevard St-LaurentParks Canada - Boulevard Saint-Laurent''Our Street Was Paved with Gold'' a 1973 NFB documentary on The Main
*
ttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060617.STREET17/TPStory/Travel/?pageRequested=all ''Globe and Mail'' article on The Mainbr>
Montreal Mirror: History Passing us by*
*
Pictures of Saint Lawrence boulevard on Image Montreal IMTL.org
{{Coord, 45.510161, N, 73.564426, W, source:frwiki_region:CA, format=dms, display=title
Streets in Montreal
Downtown Montreal
Quartier des spectacles
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie
Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension
Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Boulevards
Culture of Montreal
Ethnic enclaves in Quebec
Historic Jewish communities in Canada
Shopping districts and streets in Canada
National Historic Sites in Quebec
Tourist attractions in Montreal
Jews and Judaism in Montreal
History of Montreal
Historic districts in Canada
Yiddish culture in Canada
Hipster neighborhoods