1915 – Fire Station and Recorders’ Court, Maisonneuve, Montreal, Quebec

Fantastic building clearly inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago.

“The structure has a very solid appearance, and has two or three interesting features. There are a basement and two storeys, with a very large tower for drying hose reels and for observation purposes. The foundations are of concrete; the exterior is of Deschambault limestone constructed on a steel frame; the mitoyen wall is of Greendale Rug brick, and the floors are of reinforced concrete.

The basement, which is 8 feet high and built below the level of the street, is to be used for automobile repairs. The tower, which is in the centre of the building, commencing in the basement and rising 87 feet above the street level, is in the form of an open square 18 feet wide on each side, and is constructed to a height of 67 feet from the street level, when the observation portion commences. This portion is reached from the hose tower by means of a ladder. The observation roof is supported by eight limestone pillars, a parapet running round the observation tower. The entire tower is made of limestone, faced on the interior with white enamelled brick.

The space for the motor fire-fighting apparatus is in the front section of the ground floor, the main entrance, on Notre Dame Street East, being through wide doors with automatic springs. This space is 56 x 44 feet. A part of the same floor is occupied, on the Letourneux Avenue side, by offices for the Chief of Police, on either side of which is an entrance, one leading to the fire station and the other to the recorders’ court. The walls of the vestibules have chestnut wainscoting panels. The Chief of Police’s quarters are finished in oak wainscoting and plaster walls. Next to these quarters is the tower, and on the north side lavatory accommodation.

A machine shop occupies the east side. This will 1)e equipped with lath and boring machines, run by electricity, a trap being provided for lowering heavy pieces into the basement. The Judge’s room and witnesses’ room, with toilet annex, communicate with the recorders’ court, which is situated on the south side of the ground floor. The court room has chestnut wainscoting panels, with painted plaster above this. The walls are of panelled plaster with plaster cornices in old ivory colour. At the far end are the prisoners’ cells, four on the ground floor and six on a mezzanine floor. These have lavatory accommodation, with automatic taps, all the plumbing being enclosed, so that it cannot be tampered with. The entrance to the cells is on Letourneux Avenue, where there is also a watchman’s office. On the other side of the cells, next to the mitoyen wall, is a police patrol garage, which is reached from Letourneux Avenue by a passage 22 feet wide and 48 feet long. Communication with the basement from the ground floor is by two stairways, one in a corner of the tower and the other in front of the prisoners’ cells.

The second floor is devoted to dormitories, gymnasium and shower-baths. Immediately facing the’ front of the building are toilet rooms for officers, and behind are the firemen’s dormitories, 46 x 30 feet. Leading off from these on either side are exterior terraces, 6 feet wide, with parapets of limestone. On the east side are the shower baths, toilets, and a skylight to give light to the machine shop below. A passage way alongside the shower-baths leads to the gymnasium, on the side of which are further exterior terraces. At the extreme end are toilets for officers, and an additional terrace. The dormitories have Terrazzo floors, enamelled brick walls, and plastered ceilings. In the toilets the wainscotings are of marble, with enamelled brick above to the ceiling, which is of plaster, while in the gymnasium the walls are of enamelled brick and the ceilings of plaster. The flat roof is of asphalt mastic cement.”
Engineering and Contract Record, October 6, 1915

Share!

More!