Michael James S. Fish (born October 23, 1934) is a Canadian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and urban conservationist, best known for his attempts to preserve heritage buildings in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada.

Biography

Michael Fish began his career in Montreal in 1956, mostly involved in new apartment building construction. Soon, he developed an interest in renovating established buildings rather than constructing after demolition. He noted that it was less expensive and less disruptive to the cohesion of neighbourhoods. He became involved in community groups that advocated to save structures such as the

Van Horne Mansion The Van Horne Mansion () was a classic greystone house on Sherbrooke Street at the corner of Stanley Street, Montreal, Stanley Street in Montreal's Golden Square Mile. It was built in 1869 for John Hamilton (Quebec politician), John Hamilton, Pre ...

.Delean, Paul (August 31, 1987). "Architect lauded for conservation efforts", '' The Gazette'', p. A3. In 1970, Fish co-founded Friends of

Windsor Station Windsor station or Windsor railway station may refer to: Australia * Windsor railway station, Brisbane * Windsor railway station, Sydney * Windsor railway station, Melbourne Canada * Windsor Station (Montreal) * Windsor station (Nova Scotia) * Wi ...

with architect Peter Lanken and urban-planning professor Jean-Claude Marsan. In 1974, he co-founded Save Montreal. He has been credited with playing a major role in saving, or preventing major transformation of, such buildings as the

Dawson College Dawson College is an English-language public college in Westmount and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately of green space. It is the largest CEGEP in the p ...

building at

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and

Atwater Street Atwater Avenue (officially in ) is a major north–south street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It links Doctor Penfield Avenue in the Ville-Marie, Montreal, Ville-Marie Boroughs of Montreal, borough to the north, and Henri Duhamel Street ...

s, the

Collège de Montréal The Collège de Montréal () is a subsidized private high school for students attending grades 7–11 located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A former Roman Catholic minor seminary, it was founded on June 1, 1767 as the ''Petit Séminai ...

on Sherbrooke Street, the

Grey Nuns The Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canadian religious institute of Roman Catholic religious sisters, found ...

' quarters and church at

René Lévesque Boulevard René Lévesque Boulevard (), previously named Dorchester Boulevard, is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borough of Ville-Marie (Montreal), Ville ...

and Guy Street, and the Pied-du-Courant Prison, patriotes' prison near the Jacques Cartier Bridge. In the mid-1980s, he served as vice-president of the Canadian International Council of Monuments and Sites, a United Nations affiliate. After becoming more involved in political lobbying for marginalized groups, he found less and less work available to him from private developers, who saw conservationists as "a threat", according to him. In the latter part of his career, his firm worked only on social housing projects. He has stated that a highlight of his conservation work was saving a row of greystone houses on Jeanne Mance Street, south of Sherbrooke Street. In 1989, he advocated for the preservation of Ottawa/Rockcliffe Airport, Rockcliffe Airport hangars. Earlier in his career he had designed hangars for Canada's air force, and for Trans-Canada Air Lines.

Awards

In 1987, he received acclaim for his "significant contribution to heritage preservation in Quebec" and was presented with a lieutenant-governor's award from Heritage Canada. In 2003, he was presented with a Montreal city medal for his work with Save Montreal.Gravenor, Kristian (October 23, 2003).
The museum that is Montreal
", ''Montreal Mirror'' 19 (19). Retrieved on February 11, 2009.

References

External links

Michael Fish's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Michael 20th-century Canadian architects Architects from Montreal 1934 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Preservationist architects