ARCHITECTS

Crevier, Lemieux, Mercier and Caron

ARTISTS

Maurice Savoie Nicholas Sollogoub Les industries perdues Murray MacDonald Kelvin McAvoy

INAUGURATED

14 October 1966

The station is centred around a large volume, built cut-and-cover. Owing to the density of its traffic, the station is well-supplied with passenger circulation areas; its two concourses are joined by two corridors encircling the platform area.

The western concourse serves the McGill College (Tour BNP) and De Maisonneuve Ouest (Eaton Centre) exits, as well as the underground city link to Eaton Centre and Les Ailes de la Mode (formerly Eaton's). It includes a large open concourse area, as well as a fare-paid zone whose western edge has an additional row of turnstiles without a ticket booth. There are also two exit-only accesses from the platform on the eastern side of the concourse.

Originally, these two concourses were joined by only one walkway, to the north of and overlooking the platform area. This wide passage also gives access to the rue University entrance as well as to the Centre 2020 University and Place London Life.

It also had a large open space near its centre; this used to be used as a small public library, the only one of its kind in the world, now closed due to budget cutbacks. In more recent years it was the scene of the metro's 35th anniversary exposition in October 2001. This space has subsequently been walled in preparation for use as a commercial space.

Another connection between the two concourses was added in the early 1990s upon construction of the Place de la Cathédrale office tower (now Tour KPMG). On the south side of the platform, this narrower corridor provides access to the tower and the De Maisonneuve Est entrance in its façade, as well as to the Promenades de la Cathédrale shopping centre.

Access to these malls was made even easier by two direct accesses from the platforms. Though one of them (on the Angrignon platform, to Les Galeries 2001 University) has since been closed, the access to Eaton Centre from the Honoré-Beaugrand platform remains open.

The station's colour scheme is recent. Formerly painted in very loud and unpleasant orange and yellow, the station was recently repainted in dignified colours which work well together. The walls are largely covered with cream-coloured stone, with brown ceramic tiles, blue-green pillars, and burgundy highlights.

Access to the station is provided both by the buildings connected to it by the Underground City, and by the six independent entrances mentioned above, all of which are incorporated into the façade of buildings. The entrances, most of which open onto or near boul. de Maisonneuve, are strung over the four blocks of the station's length between av. McGill College and rue Union.

The huge crowds that stream through this station can enjoy a number of important works of art. The most prominent is a series of five stained-glass murals by Nicholas Sollogoub, mounted above the Honoré-Beaugrand platform in the station's great volume. Entitled Montreal Scenes Circa 1830, these murals depict aspects of life in 19th century Montreal.

The murals depict, from left to right:

Two new works of art accompanied the construction of the new southern corridor and of the Place de la Cathédrale. One of them, at the western end of the corridor, is a scale model of the Island of Montreal seen from above, covered with tiny, detailed little buildings. Passengers with nothing better to do have been known to spend several minutes with their noses up against the glass bricks, looking for particular buildings. The work by Les Industries perdues (Richard Purdy, Alain Cadieux, and François Hébert) is entitled To rise, we must push against the ground onto which we have fallen (in French, C'est sur le sol qu'on prend appui pour s'envoler).

Another work, at the other end of the corridor, represents the forms of the Place de la Cathédrale in glass, backlit by a series of neon tubes flashing in sequence. Entitled Passūs, it is by Murray MacDonald.

Mention should finally be made of a work of art formerly at this station: a splendid tapestry commemorating the life of James McGill, the founder of McGill University. Given to the metro by the now-defunct Canadian Universal Limited Insurance in 1969, it was woven in Scotland at the School of Art in Edinburgh, to a design by Kelvin McAvoy. It was formerly displayed in the rue University entrance.

However, it only hung for a year before its plexiglas cover was broken and the tapestry (whose text is in English only) vandalized. The company demanded that its location be changed; the transit authority refused. Consequently, Canadian Universal removed it under the pretext of cleaning it, and then refused to give it back until a new location would be found! The company and the transit authority could not agree on a location, so it disappeared from the metro permanently.

Fortunately, it was not lost to the public eye forever: it was finally given in perpetual loan to McGill University in 1972, and may now be enjoyed in its new location in the stairwell of the main entrance to the McLennan Library.

This station is not without its problems, including damaged masonry, leaks, and peeling paint that need attention from the STM. However, the arrangement of its spaces, its interior design, and its artwork merit an aesthetic visit even from those who don't commute through it every day.

MATT'S RATING