Viger Square (officially in ) is an urban square 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 ...

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, Canada. It was greatly changed by the construction of the Ville-Marie Expressway in the 1970s. The square is divided into three sections. It is bordered to the west by

Saint Denis Street Saint Denis Street (officially in ) is a major north–south thoroughfare in Montreal, Quebec. It extends from the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel on Saint Paul Street in Old Montreal to the bank of the Rivière des Prairies at the north en ...

, to the east by Saint André Street, to the north by Viger Street, and to the south by

Saint Antoine Street Saint Antoine Street (officially in ), formerly known as Craig Street, is a street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs to the south of Downtown Montreal and north of Old Montreal and Griffintown and Saint-Henri. It crosses the Quartier ...

History

In the 1840s, the city of Montreal acquired several parcels of

marshland In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

permitting for its development. Trees were planted and pathways were traced. Prior to 1851, a hay market and public scale operated on the site on the east side of Saint Denis Street. The hay market moved a few times on the site, but was always to the east. Viger Square was inaugurated on September 11, 1860. In 1865, greenhouses were added, although were moved to La Fontaine Park in 1889. In 1870, Viger Square was the only public place in Montreal to hear live music. Ernest Lavigne directed his orchestra in Viger Square from 1885 to 1889, before he moved to Sohmer Park. In 1892, to enlarge the square at the request of citizens, the cattle market was demolished near Saint André St. Some members of the

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

elite moved near the square, which experienced a boom with the construction of prestigious buildings such as

Place Viger Place Viger was both a grand hotel and railway station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, constructed in 1898 and named after Jacques Viger, the first Mayor of the city. Although combined stations and hotels were common in the United Kingdom in the la ...

(700 Saint Antoine Street) by architect

Bruce Price Bruce Price (December 12, 1845 – May 29, 1903) was an American architect and an innovator in the Shingle style architecture, Shingle Style. The stark geometry and compact massing of his cottages in Tuxedo Park, New York, influenced Modern ...

in 1898 and the École des hautes études commerciales (535 Viger Avenue) in 1908-1910. In the mid-20th century, several redevelopment projects were suggested for this vast space. Among them were plans to build a municipal library, an auditorium (to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Montreal in 1942) or to accommodate a large parking lot (in the 1950s). It was the development of road infrastructure that ended up taking over the space. The park was destroyed when the underground Ville-Marie Expressway was built in the 1970s. Once the highway was finished, a new Viger Square was created on its concrete roof in three parts, delimited by Saint-Denis, Berri, Saint-Hubert and Saint-André Streets. The development of the three sections was entrusted to sculptors

Charles Daudelin Charles Daudelin, (October 1, 1920 – April 2, 2001) was a French Canadian pioneer in modern sculpture and painting. He worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, metal and ceramic sculpture, jewelry, and marionettes which he ma ...

Claude Théberge Claude may refer to: People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Callegari (1962–2021), English Arsenal supporter * Claude Debussy (1862–1918), ...

and Peter Gnass and was completed in 1985. The artist-run centre ''Dare-Dare'' was based in Viger Square from August 2004 to July 2006 and presented more than a dozen exhibitions, events and performances. The main social and entertainment location for non-sporting events during the inaugural

2006 World Outgames The 1st World Outgames took place in Montréal, Quebec, Canada from July 26, 2006, to August 5, 2006. The international conference was held from July 26 to the 29. The sporting events were held from July 29 to August 5. History The event evolved ...

was located at the west side of Viger Square.

Future plans

As it stands now, Viger Square holds little resemblance to what it once was. It is criticized because of the strong presence of concrete structures and especially of

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

people. The

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal The (CHUM, , translated as University of Montreal Health Centre) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is a teaching institution affiliated with the French-language . The CHUM is one of the largest hospital ...

project will bring many changes to the neighbourhood. Public consultations will take place that will lead a significant restructuring of Viger Square.

Jean-Olivier Chénier Monument

The ''Jean-Olivier Chénier Monument'' is a memorial designed by Alfonso Pelzer located on Saint Denis Street opposite Viger Square. A committee created in 1893 authorized the monument on April 24, 1895. It stands tall and is made of pink

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

Sculptures

*''Agora'' (1983), by

*''Mastodo'' (fountain sculpture) (1984) by Charles Daudelin *''Force'' (fountain sculpture) (1985), by

*''Jeux d'enfants'' (fountain sculpture) (1984), by Peter Gnass

History

Future plans

Jean-Olivier Chénier Monument

Sculptures

References

Further reading