Skylight of the Alexis-Nihon Complex as viewed from indoors

Alexis Nihon Complex (''French: Complexe Alexis Nihon'') is a building complex in Downtown

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada (on the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with Westmount), consisting of a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre ( Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

, two office towers, and a residential building. It is named after the inventor and businessman Alexis Nihon. The shopping mall is directly connected to the Atwater metro station, which joins the building by a short tunnel with the adjacent

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acr ...

, and by a longer one adjoins nearby

Westmount Square Westmount Square is a residential and office complex located in Westmount, Quebec, Canada. There are two residential apartment buildings and two office buildings. These towers sit atop an underground shopping centre consisting of thirty-five sh ...

. The original complex was designed by the Montreal architect Harold Ship, and its architectural plans are housed at the

Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between rue Fort (Fort Street ...

. On October 26, 1986, a major fire heavily damaged its 16-story office building and is still considered the city's biggest fire in a skyscraper. At least six stories were destroyed in the blaze. In 2002, the service de sécurité incendie de Montréal was heavily blamed for negligence and incompetence according to the Cour d'Appel du Québec. Several tenants including the federal government sued the then-owner of the building for several million dollars. During the Dawson shooting incident on September 13, 2006, the building was fully evacuated and some workers thought there were gunshots fired in the complex. Shots did reach the building during the shooting.Myles, Brian & Bourgault-Côté, Guillaume, ''Montréal, ville blessé : Panique, pleurs et attente insoutenable dans les rues du centre-ville ''(Panic, tears and interminable wait in downtown's streets), Le Devoir, Montréal, September 14, 2006, page A3 On April 5, 2017, a minor fire broke out near the roof of the food court. Minor damage occurred as a result. The shopping mall portion is anchored by Canadian Tire, IGA,

Sports Experts Sports Experts Inc. is a major Canadian sports-retailer franchise primarily located in Quebec. It is part of FGL Sports (formerly The Forzani Group), itself part of the Canadian Tire group. History Sports Experts was founded in 1967. It was purc ...

Winners Winners Merchants International L.P is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies. It offers brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, fine jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. Products are at a 20-60 ...

and

Pharmaprix Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 19 ...

. The block now containing the mall was once the site of Atwater Park, home of the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...

baseball team through 1927.

Directions

Alexis Nihon, at the corner of Atwater Avenue and Ste-Catherine Street West, is accessible: * By Metro: Green line, Atwater Station. This station directly connects to Alexis Nihon Plaza. * By Bus: Bus lines 24, 63, 90, 104, 138, 144, 356 and 360. * By Car: A-720/Ville-Marie Expressway, Exit 2 - Atwater Avenue. * By Bicycle: Bicycle stations levels P1 and P3 of the parking. * By

BIXI Bixi, or Bi Xi (), is a figure from Chinese mythology. One of the 9 sons of the dragon, 9 sons of the Dragon King, he is depicted as a Chinese dragon, dragon with the shell of a turtle. Stone Chinese sculpture, sculptures of Bixi have been used ...

: BIXI Station De Maisonneuve Boulevard West at the corner of Atwater. * By Taxi: Waiting area Atwater Avenue at the corner of de Maisonneuve Boulevard West.

Stores

The complex is directly connected to the Atwater Metro station and offers numerous services, a variety of shops and superstores, and a food court with over 25 restaurants. From 1982 until 1986, it housed Montreal's only downtown IKEA Store, which due to a lack of space, moved out to its own building at to boul. Cavendish in Saint-Laurent. Alexis Nihon also previously housed

Miracle Mart Miracle Mart was a chain of discount department stores with locations in Ontario and Quebec, Canada based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. The chain was renamed to simply M in the mid-1980s. History The company was founded in early 1961 as Miracle Mart ...

(later becoming an M-Store, a three-screen cinema operated by Cineplex Odeon,

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC ...

and Steinberg's supermarket. When the complex first opened in 1967 the French department store Au Printemps opened it first location outside France.

References

External links

Official website

Location of Place Alexis Nihon
{{Commonscat, Place Alexis-Nihon Burned buildings and structures in Canada Downtown Montreal Rebuilt buildings and structures in Canada Shopping malls established in 1967 Shopping malls in Montreal Skyscrapers in Montreal Skyscraper office buildings in Canada Residential skyscrapers in Canada 1967 establishments in Quebec

Directions

Stores

See also

References

External links