, photo = Agora Daudelin 02.jpg , photo_width = , photo_caption = ''Agora'' by

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 mad ...

is a prominent sculpture in Viger Square. , map = Canada Montreal , map_width = , type =

Town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, location =

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on the ...

, Ville-Marie

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 Government of Canada, 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 ...

, Canada , nearest_city = , coords = , coords_ref = , area = , created = September 11, 1860 , operator = City of Montreal , visitation_num = , status = Open all year , open = Viger Square (officially in french: square Viger) is an

urban square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. R ...

, Canada. It was greatly changed by the construction of the

Ville-Marie Expressway Route 136 (R-136), formerly Autoroute 720, known as the Ville-Marie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Ville-Marie (French) is an Autoroute highway in the Canadian province of Quebec that is a spur route of Autoroute 20 in Montreal. Its western ...

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 french: Rue Saint-Denis) 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 P ...

, 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 french: Rue Saint-Antoine), 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. ...

History

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

marshland A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

permitting for its development. Trees were planted and pathways were traced. Prior to 1851, a hay market and public

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

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 La Fontaine Park (french: Parc La Fontaine) is a urban park located in the borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Named in honour of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, The park's features include two linked ponds with a fountain ...

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 twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

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. The stark geometry and compact massing of his cottages in Tuxedo Park, New York, influenced Modernist architects, including F ...

in 1898 and the

École des hautes études commerciales HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International F ...

(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

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

Claude Théberge Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

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 o ...

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 or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

people. The

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal The Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (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-lang ...

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 Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

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 ( phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies und ...

, bronze and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) 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 ...

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