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29-740: The McCall MacBain Arts Building (also known as the Arts Building , formerly the McGill College Building ) is a landmark building located at 853 Sherbrooke Street West in Montreal , Quebec , in the centre of McGill University 's downtown campus. The Arts Building is the oldest existing building on campus, and it was designed in the Classical Revival style by John Ostell . Construction began in 1839, and

58-707: A library. In 1888, Alexander Francis Dunlop made major alterations to the building's east wing for the Science Department. At some point within the next few decades, as McGill continued to grow, the McGill College Building was renamed the Arts Building. In 1921, Ramsay Traquair , director of the McGill School of Architecture at that time, designed the McGill flag and presented it to the university. As of 2020, it continues to fly above

87-472: A little farther west in the new Garden City of Westmount . Sherbrooke Street was extended eastward from the early 20th century and followed the urban development of Montreal eastward. It was central to the creation of several institutions and parks such as La Fontaine Park , the Notre-Dame Hospital , Maisonneuve Park , Montreal Botanical Garden and Olympic Stadium . In 1976, the street

116-425: A mix of Classical architectural elements, such as a front portico with a pediment held up by Tuscan columns. The motto of the university, Grandescunt Aucta Labore ( Latin for 'By work, all things increase and grow'), is inscribed in the building, representing the classical and liberal education of the university around the time it was founded. The interior lobby of the building contains black marble columns,

145-595: A pink marble floor and oak furnishings. The wooden cupola atop the central block, from which the McGill flag flies, can be seen from the Roddick Gates and is a recognizable symbol of the university. The tomb of James McGill can also be seen in front of the Arts Building. In 2016, the Arts Building underwent significant restorations by the Montreal architectural firm EVOQ Architecture, in order to preserve its heritage. The building had significantly deteriorated and

174-541: A two-storey portico with Doric columns but could not at that time. Due to the building not being properly finished, the roof leaked, the rooms were cold and dark, there were rats roaming the halls and several windows were broken. In order to raise money to finish the project, the Royal Institution sold land south of Sherbrooke Street . In 1852, the city began construction of the McTavish reservoir and, in

203-593: Is a major east–west artery and at 31.3 kilometres (19.4 mi) in length, is the second longest street on the Island of Montreal , Canada. The street begins in the town of Montreal West and ends on the extreme tip of the island in Pointe-aux-Trembles , intersecting Gouin Boulevard and joining up with Notre-Dame Street . East of Cavendish Boulevard this road is part of Quebec Route 138 . The street

232-453: Is divided into two portions. Sherbrooke Street East is located east of Saint Laurent Boulevard and Sherbrooke Street West is located west. Sherbrooke Street West is home to many historic mansions that comprised its exclusive Golden Square Mile district, including the now-demolished Van Horne Mansion , the imposing Beaux-Arts style Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple as well as several historic properties incorporated into Maison Alcan ,

261-463: The Collège de Montréal . All Montreal Metro Green Line stations east of Assomption station are located under the street. There is also an Orange Line station at Berri Street . The street is primarily served by 24 Sherbrooke , 105 Sherbrooke , 185 Sherbrooke and 186 Sherbrooke Est. AMT's Montreal-Ouest station is located near the southern end of the street. Other key attractions on

290-676: The McCall MacBain Foundation. In 1811, the founder of McGill University, James McGill , bequeathed his forty-six acre estate, Burnside Place (which stretched from what is now Doctor Penfield Avenue to a few streets south of Sherbrooke Street ), along with £10,000, to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning , which governed the education system in Quebec at that time. He made his bequest with

319-401: The Arts Building. In 1925, Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh and J. Cecil McDougall were hired to renovate the Arts Building. They transformed the central block's first floor into a large lobby with columns made of black marble , and a floor made of pink Tennessee marble . The construction was done by Anglin-Norcross Ltd. of Montreal. They also introduced the coloured globe lamp that hangs today in

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348-672: The Department of French Language and Literature, the Department of English, and the Department of Art History and Communication Studies. It also hosts lectures for several other departments from the Faculty of Arts. In April 2019, the building was renamed the McCall MacBain Arts Building in recognition of a private donation of C $ 200 million, the then-largest single gift to a university in Canadian history, from

377-511: The McGill College Building. By 1843, the central and east sections of the building were constructed in the Classical Revival style, but a lack of funds prevented any further construction. At that time, the central block contained the kitchen, steward's residence, a room for the Governors' council, college hall, library and classrooms. The east section contained the chapel and vice-principal's residence. The Royal Institution had planned to build

406-535: The Royal Institution decided to build the first building on campus. That year, the Royal Institution held a competition for the design of what would eventually be known as the McGill College Building (later called the Arts Building). In 1839, the competition was won by John Ostell , a British architect known for designing the Old Custom House (1836) in Montreal, and soon after, construction began on

435-409: The Royal Institution had previously intended to build in front of the central block, although made out of wood rather than stone. Dawson convinced Sir William Molson to donate funds for the construction of the McGill College Building's west wing, which would be called Molson Hall. The west wing was built in 1861 by William Spier, and it held the convocation hall, classrooms, chemistry labs, a museum and

464-542: The Science Dept., 1888. Afterward he designed numerous prestigious commercial buildings and residences in the Golden Square Mile . He designed the first Montreal Star Building . Various promising Montreal architects learned their trade working with Dunlop, including Edward Maxwell , Robert Findlay , David Robertson Brown and Georges-Alphonse Monette . He was a member of the organizing committee of

493-424: The building's central block and east wing were completed in 1843. The west and north wings were finished in 1861 and 1925, respectively, after involving multiple architects, including Alexander Francis Dunlop and Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh . Today, the Arts Building is made up of a central block and three distinct wings – Dawson Hall (east), Molson Hall (west) and Moyse Hall (north). The building currently houses

522-483: The entrance lobby surrounded by the zodiac signs . Behind the central block, Moyse Hall was added, containing a large lecture theatre with bas-reliefs and ten electric chandeliers made of bronze. The wooden portico that Hopkins added was taken down and rebuilt out of yellow stone, while an additional storey was added to Molson Hall. The exterior of the Arts Building has remained more or less the same since then. The Arts Building's east wing, once simply known as "the wing",

551-727: The first president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada . He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts . The career of Dunlop took off following the realization of the Saint James United Church on Saint Catherine Street in Montreal, which took place from 1887 to 1889. He designed major alterations to the East Wing of McGill College (now called the Arts Building, McGill University ) for Prof. Bovey and

580-408: The process, inadvertently ended up sending large boulders into the roof of the McGill College Building. This resulted in the staff and students having to relocate. In 1855, the new principal of McGill College, Sir William Dawson , arrived to a disorderly campus. Dawson, who lived in the building's east wing, decided to fix up the campus. He hired J.W. Hopkins to add the portico with Doric columns that

609-533: The restoration project involved the selective dismantling and consolidation of two sections of the wall, unit re-anchoring, the replacement of multiple stones and the restoration of 44 windows. The front portico was also stabilized and the stone masonry completely restored in order to recreate the original appearance while also ensuring the structural stability of the building. Sherbrooke Street Sherbrooke Street (officially in French : rue Sherbrooke )

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638-500: The same name exists in Lachine ; it does not carry the "West" suffix and repeats numbers that are used on the longer Sherbrooke Street. In 1817, Sherbrooke Street initially consisted of two sections, from de Bleury Street to Sanguinet Street. Its relative remoteness from "downtown" (at the time; now Old Montreal ) made it difficult to establish industries or factories. Many nursing homes and educational institutions were established on

667-631: The street in the 19th century, such as McGill University , the École normale Jacques-Cartier , the Collège Mont-Saint-Louis , and the Couvent du Bon Pasteur . From the early 20th century to the 1930s, Sherbrooke Street was the most prestigious street in Montreal. In 1912, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was established on Sherbrooke Street West. Later, with the expansion of the city centre, luxurious new houses were built

696-631: The street include the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts , Grand Séminaire de Montréal , McCord Museum , Ritz-Carlton Montreal , Holt Renfrew , Parc Lafontaine , and further east, the Château Dufresne , Olympic Stadium , Montreal Botanical Garden and the Montreal Biodome . 45°30′29″N 73°34′16″W  /  45.50806°N 73.57111°W  / 45.50806; -73.57111 Alexander Francis Dunlop Alexander Francis Dunlop (August 4, 1842 – April 30, 1923),

725-410: The understanding that within ten years of his death, it would create a university, otherwise his heirs would acquire the property. This plan ultimately took a lot longer to achieve than expected, as the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning did not have trustees or a board and thus could not execute the provisions of the will. Finally, in 1837, with McGill's bequest and property deed in hand,

754-683: The world headquarters for Alcan . Sherbrooke Street East runs along the edge (both administrative and topographic) of the Plateau Mont-Royal , at the top of a marked hillside known as Côte à Baron, and continues between the Montreal Botanical Garden and Parc Maisonneuve to the north and Parc Olympique to the south. The street is named for John Coape Sherbrooke , the Governor General of British North America from 1816 to 1818. A separate street of

783-594: Was a Canadian architect from Montreal, Quebec . Dunlop worked as an apprentice to Montreal architects George Browne and John James Browne . From 1871 to 1874 he lived and worked in Detroit , Michigan . He opened his own architectural firm in Montreal in 1874. The firm operated until his death in 1923. He became the president of the Association of Architects of the Province of Quebec in 1890 and in 1907 became

812-569: Was named Dawson Hall in 1947, after its occupant Sir John William Dawson. Today, it serves as one of the university's administration facilities. In 2019, the building was renamed the McCall MacBain Arts Building after the university received a private donation of C $ 200 million, the then-largest single gift to a university in Canada, from John and Marcy McCall MacBain through their McCall MacBain Foundation. The McCall MacBain Arts Building uses

841-703: Was to be venue for an 8 km exhibit of art entitled Corridart during the 1976 Summer Olympics . However, in a controversial decision, former Mayor Jean Drapeau had the exhibition torn down two days before the Games began. Three of Montreal's four major universities are on Sherbrooke Street. Downtown is the main campus of McGill University , and farther west is the Loyola Campus of Concordia University . The street also has UQAM 's Complexe des sciences Pierre-Dansereau and INRS 's Montréal campus as well as Dawson College , Collège de Maisonneuve CEGEPs , and

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