11 October 2008
Windsor Station to Obtain Quebec Heritage Protection
Windsor Station Montreal from the Notman
Archives.
Montreal Quebec - For Michael Fish, now 75, it started
more than half a lifetime ago.
In 1970, at the age of 37, the young architect was appalled that Canadian Pacific Railway proposed to tear down Windsor Station on
Peel St.
It's taken 38 years and unrelenting dedication by heritage activists, notably Fish, but now the neo-romanesque building
is about to receive Quebec's permanent seal of protection from the wrecking ball.
The Gazette has learned that Minister of Culture Christine St. Pierre sent a notice of intent dated 18 Sep 2008 to
classify the train station as a cultural site - and hence out of reach of bulldozers.
As a result of pressure by heritage conservationists, the 119-year-old building was already safe from destruction under
the federal Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act.
But CP Rail put the station up for sale last year, and Dinu Bumbaru, policy director of Heritage Montreal, said yesterday when a rail
company divests itself of such a building, that protection becomes null and void.
"What this notice of intent by Quebec does," Bumbaru said, "is ensure a seamless regime of protection." Provinces
are "the real protectors of heritage, and the nanosecond" that federal protection runs out, it will be reinstated by the
province - and this time on a permanent basis.
Bumbaru credited Fish with "getting the ball rolling 38 years ago and staying on the issue unswervingly for many years.
But informed of the minister's notice of intent, Fish himself was modest in his reaction. "I'm delighted and I congratulate them
for it," he said.
But he emphasized he was helped by others, including former mayor Jean Drapeau, who exerted considerable influence with CP.
Fish also recalled the great sway that CP Rail had over many institutions, including McGill University and Universite de Montreal.
"I called the universities for their expertise, but they were too frightened to take it up themselves, he said.
They said "we'll help, but you do it. CP gave money to everyone back then and was very, very aggressive," he
said.
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