Bonsecours Market National Historic Site of Canada
Montréal, Quebec
General view of the place
© Parks Canada Agency/ Agence Parcs Canada
Address :
350 Saint-Paul Street East, Montréal, Quebec
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1984-11-23
Dates:
-
1844 to 1847
(Construction)
Event, Person, Organization:
-
William Footner
(Architect)
-
George Browne
(Architect)
Other Name(s):
-
Bonsecours Market
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
Town Hall Study - 1984
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 350 Saint-Paul Street East, Quebec
Begun in 1844 by architect William Footner, this imposing building of Neoclassical design reflects the rise of Montréal to metropolitan status. Completed by George Browne in 1860, it served as city hall between 1852 and 1878. For over a century, it accommodated the main municipal and regional market and, briefly, the parliament of the United Canadas in 1849. Throughout the years, the east wing housed a concert hall and meeting rooms, and was used for various military purposes. Renovated in 1964, the Bonsecours Market regained its function as a public space in 1996.
Original Plaque: 350 Saint-Paul Street East, Montréal, Quebec
This imposing building, erected between 1844 and 1860, reflects the rise of Montréal to metropolitan status. Behind its broad facade, the Bonsecours Market brought together the functions of public market, meeting rooms and, for a few years, of city hall. It briefly housed the parliament of the United Canadas in 1849. Of Neoclassical design by architect William Footner and completed by George Browne, it was the largest structure of its kind built in Canada in the mid-19th century. Since the 1960s, the building has been used solely for municipal purposes.
Description of Historic Place
Bonsecours Market is a monumental, domed masonry building that stretches a full city block in “Old Montréal”. Built in the Neoclassical style and located at the edge of the old port, it has become a symbol of the city. Originally it housed the city’s first city hall, together with a public market, meeting and exhibition rooms, and a concert hall. Rehabilitated in the mid-twentieth century, it now accommodates exhibitions, shops and restaurants. The formal recognition consists of the building on its legal property.
Heritage Value
Bonsecours Market was designated a national historic site in 1984 because this imposing building, the largest town hall built in Canada during the mid-19th-century, reflects the rise of Montréal to metropolitan status; and because this Neoclassical building housed both a market and public rooms and served for several years as Montréal’s city hall.
The heritage value of the site resides in its historical role in the city of Montréal and in its imposing design and construction. Originally constructed from 1844 to 1847 to designs by architect William Footner, a concert hall was added in 1852 by architect George Browne. Inaugurated in 1847 as a public market, the building also briefly housed the Parliament of the Canadas in 1849, and served as Montréal’s city hall from 1852 to 1878. Bonsecours Market continued as Montréal’s principal public market for more than a hundred years.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, November 1984.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements which relate to the heritage value of Bonsecours Market include:-its location in the heart of the old city, facing the port; its Neoclassical style, evident in its monumental scale and long, rectangular massing, its symmetrically organized facades with a ground-floor arcade, tall central dome, and projecting pavilions, its classical detailing, including doric columns, pilasters, and pedimented entry bays; remnants of its original interior layout; its exterior masonry materials and craftsmanship.