Then and Now Again: 1947 Aerial Photography vs Google Satellite

1947 Aerial Photography of Montreal

©2017 The Past Whispers
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Westmount Conservatory To Be Restored

 

 

When the city of Westmount restored its public library in 1995, it faced the challenging task of modernizing the building while respecting its historical look and feel.

To do so, it pored over historical photos to find matching chandeliers and wallpaper and sought out the original manufacturer, located in Waterloo, Ontario, that had supplied the library with wooden oak armchairs nearly 100 years earlier.

When the city expanded the Victoria Hall Community Centre building next to the library three years later — it had been rebuilt in 1925 after initially opening in 1899 — it had the same goal in mind: restore, but respect the building’s historical character.

The architect in charge managed to find limestone and sandstone from the same quarry the building’s original materials came from to ensure the extension matched the rest of its facade.

Now the city hopes to do the same as it undertakes major restorations at the Westmount conservatory and greenhouse complex, closed since a pane of glass fell and nearly injured a man below in September 2015.

But the project has already proved to be challenging. Some of the materials used to build the complex back in 1927, such as cypress wood, are no longer commercially available, and architects, engineers and construction companies with experience in building large and historical greenhouses aren’t easy to come by.

“If it were a more standard building, we probably would have been in construction by now,” Westmount Mayor Peter Trent said on Wednesday. “But we have to approach this extremely carefully, while keeping the same goal in mind — bringing it back to its former glory.”

Working with engineering firms, the city is looking into equivalent materials — including British Columbia fir — that could resemble the wooded purlins used when the building was initially built.

The city used a drone to photograph the exterior and interior of the greenhouse and document the extent of the damage after the glass pane collapsed last year. A structural assessment completed afterward led it to believe a complete restoration was a better option than partially fixing the failing structure.

According to Benoit Hurtubise, Westmount’s assistant director-general, the building’s infrastructure is sound; it’s the glass and wooden envelope above it that’s at risk of collapsing.

“One way or another, eventually we would have to do a complete restoration,” Hurtubise said, “so we rather bite the bullet and do it now.”

Hurtubise said a growing impatience among residents could be felt after the complex was first closed in 2015. It’s the only nearby indoor botanical garden and is often visited by people trying to escape the cold for a couple of hours during winters.

According to early estimates provided, Trent said on Wednesday, completely restoring the building could cost roughly $3.2 million.

“But really, we will spend whatever is required to bring it back to what it was,” Trent said. “This is a piece of Westmount architectural history, but it also serves a purpose and is a beautiful building in its own right.”

The city has put aside $1 million in its 2017 budget for the project, and expects to have a call for tenders early next year. But it’s unlikely the greenhouse complex will be completely restored and reopened until 2018.

Paul Marriott, president of the Westmount Municipal Association, a nonpartisan community organization, said despite some initial doubts about why the complex was closed for so long, overall, most residents agree the city should take the time required to restore it properly.

“Essentially we’re custodians of the architectural heritage for future generations. You can’t just say ‘it’s too expensive, I’m going to abandon it.’ You have a certain responsibility,” Marriott said. “It’s been there for almost 100 years. There’s no reason to believe it couldn’t be there for another 100 years.”

courtesy Montreal Gazette

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

100 years of Ouimetoscope

 

On 1 ^st  January 1906, Montrealers flock to the entry of a new institution of "moving pictures", the Ouimetoscope. Located in the Poiré room, on the corner of Montcalm and Saint-Catherine streets, the new attraction brings home a hundred dollars to its owner, Léo-Ernest Ouimet, in the first week.

 

Born in Saint-Martin on Île Jésus (today Laval) in 1877, Ouimet leaves the family farm to move to Montreal. He learned the trade of electrician and became a theater lighting designer. Strongly interested in the new medium of cinema, he takes care of projections at Sohmer Park, produces short films and creates a company, the Ouimet Film Exchange. The projection device he conceives, the Ouimetoscope, even influences the work realized by Thomas Edison. As part of his documentary achievements, Ouimet will appeal to Lactance Giroux as a cameraman. The latter became, in 1920, the first photographer hired by the City of Montreal.

In 1907, Léo-Ernest Ouimet demolished the building he occupied and began construction of the "Grand Ouimetoscope" which opens these doors in August. The following year, several cinemas opened their doors and the competition became more fierce. The American film distribution monopoly created Canadian branches and thus eliminated Ouimet from this market. At the same time, the Montreal Church began its campaign against Sunday cinematographic performances. At the end of the summer of 1908, Mayor Louis Payette, yielding to the pressure of the League for the observance of Sunday, caused contraventions to the various cinemas. Due to lung problems in two of his children, the Ouimet family settled in California each winter from 1913.

During the First World War, Ouimet withdrew from the projection to redo the distribution again and especially the realization. Among other things, he was given a film about the opening of the Bibliothèque de Montréal by Marshal Joffre in May 1917.

Following the death of two of his children, Ouimet settled down in Los Angeles in 1921, Produced the feature film Why get married that will have little success. His financial situation degraded, he accepted a position for a distribution company in Toronto but returned to Hollywood in 1930. Ruined, he returned to Quebec in 1933 to become a year later manager of the Imperial cinema. Since his financial situation had not improved, he accepted a position as manager of a branch of the Commission des liqueurs. At the time of his retirement in 1956, he was a store clerk. He died on 2 March 1972 at the age of 94 years.

 

In 1978, Léon H. Bélanger's nephew, Léon H. Bélanger, published a book on the life of his uncle and the beginnings of the Quebec cinema, Les Ouimetoscopes. In May 1979, the author handed over his manuscript to the city's archives. This document and its printed version constituted the Fonds Léon H. Bélanger ( P55).

 

- courtesy Archives of Montreal

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

William Notman 1826 - 1891

Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1826, and moved to Montreal in the summer of 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on Bleury Street, a location close to Montreal’s central commercial district.



His first important commission was the documentation of the construction of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River. The Bridge opened with great fanfare in 1860, attended by the Prince of Wales and Notman's camera. The gift to the Prince of a Maple Box containing Notman's photographs of the construction of the bridge and scenes of Canada East and Canada West so pleased Queen Victoria that, according to family tradition, she named him "Photographer to the Queen."

The first Canadian photographer with an international reputation, Notman's status and business grew over the next three decades. He established branches throughout Canada and the United States, including seasonal branches at Yale and Harvard universities to cater to the student trade. Notman was also an active member of the Montreal artistic community, opening his studio for exhibitions by local painters; the studio also provided training for aspiring photographers and painters. Notman was highly regarded by his colleagues for his innovative photography, and held patents for some of the techniques he developed to recreate winter within the studio walls. He won medals at exhibitions in Montreal, London, Paris, and Australia.

Photography during the mid-19th century was not the simple process it later became. The typical tourist generally did not carry a camera and much of the Notman studio's images were taken with the tourist's needs in mind. Visitors would look through Notman's picture books and chose views, to buy individually mounted or perhaps made up into an album, and have a portrait taken as well. Street scenes in the burgeoning cities of Canada, the magnificence of modern transportation by rail and steam, expansive landscapes and the natural wonders, were all in demand either as 8" x 10" print, or in the popular stereographic form, and were duly recorded by the many staff photographers working for the Notman studio.

At William Notman's death, his eldest son and partner, William McFarlane Notman, inherited the company. When he died of cancer in 1913, his younger brother Charles assumed responsibility. In 1935 Charles retired and sold the studio to the Associated Screen News, and in 1957 the Notman Collection was purchased by McGill University. The 200,000 negatives, 43 Index Books, 200 Picture Books and assorted memorabilia were transferred to the McCord Museum of Canadian History. Notman's collection can be viewed here.




His residence from 1876 until his death, Notman House in Montreal was added to the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec historic registry on December 8, 1979.

Chicago Cubs - 9
Cleveland Indians - 3

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved