Montreal Skyscrapers 1961 - photographed by George Gagnon

Probably following my father's technological lead, my grandfather began to take snapshots using colour slide film in the early 1960s. A number were taken to document the progress of the construction of his retirement chalet at Lac Saguay:

Lac Saguay 1949-1964

Here is a display of his snapshots taken of the other end of the architectural scale. He photographed a number of Montreal's skyscrapers as they were being built in 1961.

A number of these slides have the typical red/brown cast resulting from flawed processing techniques of the era - they're almost entirely devoid of blue and green shades. Where you see black edges, I have straightened the photo while trying to preserve interesting corner details which might otherwise be lost during the cropping process. The images are generally captioned with my father's description of them after my grandfather's death.

Student Christian Movement on Oxenden Street - renamed Aylmer Street.

From McGill campus looking south.

Guy and Sherbrooke Streets, looking east.

Construction of the Standard Life building, Sherbrooke Street.

Construction of Bank of Commerce building from Dominion Square.

Bank of Commerce building - last girder to be placed (Dominion Bridge).

Bank of Commerce building construction from west on Dorchester Street.

Construction of Royal Bank Building (Place Ville Marie) from Dominion Square.

Canada Life building from west, on Dorchester Street.

May 1961 - New Skyscrapers for Montreal

This post looks at some old slides my father took during a couple of trips to downtown Montreal.

Many of the street and place names have changed since,

but I will use my father's captions as they were correct for that point in history.

This view looks at Dorchester East from Guy.
I'm relaxing on a concrete block which delineates a parking lot.

Place Ville Marie is seen from McGill College.

Family members looking in should note that the Volkswagen Beetle is not my father's first car.
It would be delivered in the months to come.
These trips were made by public transportation.

Dorchester East is seen from Drummond.

The top of the Bank of Commerce building.

St George's Church is seen beside the CPR's Windsor Station headquarters.

Place Ville Marie is seen from Dominion Square.

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Montreal, Then and Now; Bryan Demchinsky; 1985; Montreal Gazette.

This interesting image from the 1950s comes from the book noted above.
Looking west, it shows the widening of Dorchester Street as it was transformed into a boulevard.