Laurentian Hotel

Hotel Laurentien
Laurentien Hotel during its construction in 1947
General information
Architectural style
Streamline Moderne
InauguratedMarch 20, 1948
Demolished1977
Technical details
Floor count21
Design and construction
ArchitectCharles Davis Goodman
Laurentien Hotel, 1967

The Laurentien Hotel was an 1100-room hotel on Dorchester Street (now René Lévesque Boulevard ) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The hotel was built in 1948 and demolished in 1977.[1]

History

The hotel's location was the site of the Dominion-Square Methodist Church from 1865 until 1912.[2] The Laurentien Hotel was designed by Charles Davis Goodman, the architect of a number of prominent Streamline Moderne structures in the city, including the Bens De Luxe Delicatessen & Restaurant[3] and the Jewish General Hospital.[4] The building had 21 stories with 1,100 rooms.[5]

The Hotel Laurentien opened on March 20, 1948. Approximately 400 guests attended the hotel's grand opening, including mayor Camillien Houde and Archbishop Joseph Charbonneau.[6] Houde said in his opening speech that the use by the hotel's Anglophone builder of the French spelling of "Laurentien" symbolized good relations between the Francophone and Anglophone communities of Montreal.[7] The Ford Hotels chain (including the Laurentien) was purchased by Sheraton in 1949[8] and the hotel was renamed The Laurentien - A Sheraton Hotel. Canadian Pacific purchased the hotel from Sheraton in 1969, with plans to redevelop the location with a headquarters office tower, but Sheraton continued to rent and operate the hotel, citing it as one of the "top five" moneymakers in their entire 350-property chain.[9]

In 1975, the hotel suffered a fire in its dining room, which forced its evacuation and brief closure.[10] The hotel was granted a reprieve from demolition when the Bank of Montreal dropped out of the Canadian Pacific redevelopment plans, and it remained open to house crowds visiting Montreal for the 1976 Summer Olympics. After the Olympics, the preservation group Save Montreal attempted to convince Canadian Pacific to retain the structure. Members of the group bought shares in Canadian Pacific and filed suit in the Superior Court of Quebec to enjoin Canadian Pacific and its subsidiary Marathon Realties from demolishing the building, but by the time the brief was filed, in February 1977, Canadian Pacific had already begun demolition, and the judge denied the brief, saying the building was already effectively destroyed.[11] At the time, it was the largest hotel ever demolished in Canada.[12]

Canadian Pacific's plans for redevelopment fell through,[2] and the site remained vacant until the La Laurentienne Building was built in 1986.[13]

Elevator

Turnbull Elevator Company Limited

References

  1. ↑ Marsan, Jean-Claude (1990). Montreal in Evolution. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 319. ISBN 0-7735-0798-1. laurentian hotel demolished.
  2. 1 2 "Do you remember the Laurentien Hotel?". April 17, 2017. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  3. ↑ Elliott, Bridget; Windover, Michael (2019-06-25). The Routledge Companion to Art Deco. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-62740-8.
  4. ↑ "Charles Davis Goodman". Montréal's Architects. Images Montréal. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  5. ↑ Vanlaethem, France (2012). Place Ville Marie: Montreal's Shining Landmark. Québec Amerique. ISBN 978-2-7644-1159-9.
  6. ↑ "Perspective Monde". perspective.usherbrooke.ca. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  7. ↑ Montréal, Centre d'Histoire de (2018-09-30). "À l'hôtel Laurentien". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  8. ↑ https://time.com/archive/6614188/hotels-six-for-sheraton/
  9. ↑ https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/981240/1/Perrin_MA_F2016.pdf
  10. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/23/archives/fire-in-a-montreal-hotel-forces-out-600-guests.html
  11. ↑ https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/981240/1/Perrin_MA_F2016.pdf
  12. ↑ Cahill, Linda (September 10, 1974). "'Creative' project pledged to replace doomed landmark". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  13. ↑ Won, Shirley (16 February 1984). "New tower called job creator". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
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