The architectural liberation front

St. Patrick's Basilica creates new downtown park

by PHILIP PREVILLE

For the past 15 years, the majestic stone façade of St. Patrick's Basilica downtown has been obscured by a tree-lined parking lot stretching along de la Gauchetière from Beaver Hall Hill to St-Alexandre. For the past three years, that parking lot has been left abandoned: when the City told church administrators they were making too much money from it and would have to start paying taxes, the church preferred to let it rot.

Meanwhile, the Basilica remained hidden behind a veil of asphalt and unlandscaped growth, and Montrealers were left staring at the basilica's backside on René-Lévesque. The sight of the empty, decrepit parking lot seemed like a metaphor for Montreal's downfall: no parishioners for a church no one can see anyway, no cars for a parking lot in the heart of downtown, no developer for prime downtown real estate, and no money for anyone.

But Monsignor Barry Egan-Jones, upon becoming St. Patrick's parochial administrator in 1995, saw through the desolation: since the City doesn't charge taxes on non-commercial lands owned by the church, he'd make it into a park--and, in the process, liberate St. Patrick's front face from the tyranny of concrete modernity. Jackhammers began breaking ground Tuesday.

"We just celebrated the Basilica's 150th anniversary, and we need to bring Montrealers' attention back to this church," says Egan-Jones, lamenting the fact that in addition to the lot, the church is obscured by highrises and warehouses on its east and west sides.

Vincent Asselin, landscape architect for the soon-to-be-named Parc St-Patrick, says his primary intention is to make the basilica accessible from de la Gauchetière, just as it was in the 1920s.

Without enough money to develop the park, Egan-Jones spent much of the past year seeking out a corporate sponsor. Negotiations with neighbouring Bell Canada bore no fruit, despite the fact that Bell's employees stand to benefit the most from its creation. Nearby Power Corporation ultimately came forward with the required $250,000. The City of Montreal will maintain the park.

Georgine Coutu, city councillor for the Peter-McGill district, says the park will be a boon to the strip of downtown wasteland that lies between Old Montreal and the downtown core--an area targeted for redevelopment.

Ironically, while the front of the Basilica will now be visible from the street, the view from the doors of St. Pat's will be dominated by a privately-run sauna for men. "That's nothing new," Coutu says. "The urban web is a very diverse place. St. Pat's can't be too surprised by that."