10 secrets on the Montreal city hall

Photo Agence QMI / Archives

Sarah Daoust-Braun

Monday, 5 February 2018 00:00

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Monday, 5 February 2018 00:00

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Honoré Beaugrand to Valerie Plant, passing through Jean-Drapeau, the Montreal city hall hides many mysteries that have managed to withstand the passage of mayors and of the time. Here are some of his best kept secrets since its creation in 1833.1. A clock set to a quarter turn

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A watchmaker comes once a year to set the time of the clock of the hotel de ville, which sits on the front facade of the building, and the Clock tower in the Old Port. To adjust the camera from the inside, it must go in a… cafeteria on the 4th floor!

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A rare thing, the clock has been arrested on 12 January 2018 at 16: 53 to mark the 8th anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti.

2. Two vaults for the archives

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The archives of the City of Montreal are kept in two vaults built in 1919 and 1952, under the town hall. Nearly 14 000 boxes and 4.25 km of documents are not only classified by nine employees. There are texts, films, photographs, plans of the metropolis and of the decision making documents. The oldest find is the marriage contract of a member of the French nobility dating back to 1512.

3. Panic button under the arches

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Employees who work in the archives must be worn at all times in the neck with a panic button connected to security, ” says Suzanne Matthew, archivist for the City of Montreal. The vaults, designed to withstand fires and floods and housed under the earth, are cut off from any cellular network.

4. A fire has destroyed everything

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The current location of city hall, on Notre-Dame street, dates back to 1878. In 1922, a fire of electrical nature has ravaged the building in the Second empire style. Only the outer walls and the first vault of the archives have survived the passage of fire. The new city hall, the Beaux-Arts style, this time, was inaugurated in 1926.

5. The famous balcony of the general de Gaulle

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On July 24, 1967, general Charles de Gaulle launches on the balcony of the town hall in front of 15 000 people the famous phrase “Vive le Québec libre!” that will mark the history. The balcony, closed to the public for ten years before opening again for the 375th anniversary of Montreal, is attached to the office of the vice-president of the executive committee, Magda Popeanu.

6. Not the right to say ” potato “

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A hundred words do not have the right to be spoken by the elected representatives during sessions of the municipal council. It is forbidden to say words like “stupid” and ” conspiracy “, deemed to be offensive, but also ” potato “. The term was used at the time for poking fun at irish immigrants, who are considered lower class and working in the fields of potatoes. It is the president of the municipal council, Cathy Wong, who may decide to ban or not the words.

7. The balconies banned in the Montreal

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The council room, where are held once a month the meetings of the city council, has two balconies accessible to City employees and journalists, but not to Montreal. Residents dissatisfied have already introduced waste on the head of the elect in the past and we don’t want to reproduce this kind of incident.

8. Of famous visitors

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The town hall has hosted since its inception many famous visitors including Edith Piaf (1955), queen Elizabeth II (1959), Nelson Mandela (1990) and the Dalai lama (1993). On the picture we see in the center the player Maurice Richard, who came to celebrate in 1954 his 400th goal in the national hockey League. At the time, the players of the Montreal canadiens came to the town hall to celebrate their victories on the ice.

9. A photographic work unique

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The City archives have recently acquired a unique work of montreal photographer William Notman, where one sees a representation of the city council in 1885, before the fire of 1922.

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In the center of the collage is the mayor Honoré Beaugrand, who wears a necklace of pageantry to preside over the meeting. Today, this necklace is worn by the mayors at events traditional as the parade of the Holy Patrick.

10. A logo debunked

Courtesy City of Montreal

That means the famous logo of rose of Montreal? The red logo, adopted in 1981 and amended in 2003, recalls by its form the four of hearts, and the letters V and M, in reference to “City of Montreal” and ” Ville-Marie “, the name of the district where the hotel is located in the city and the first French name given to Montreal for its foundation. It forms a nénufar, aquatic plant, which reminds us that the metropolis is an island, ” explains Marc-Olivier Dumervil, guide to city hall, where guided tours are organized.