Parc station, also known as Park Avenue station and formerly Jean-Talon station (French: Gare Jean-Talon), is a historic railway station building in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its western end currently houses the Montreal Metro's Parc station, while businesses occupy the rest of the building. Although the main building no longer serves the railway, the Exo commuter rail Parc station is adjacent to it. It is located on Jean-Talon Street at the end of Park Avenue in the Park Extension neighbourhood of the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.
| Park Avenue station | |
|---|---|
Gare Jean-Talon | |
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Metro station, Retail, and former railway station |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Location | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Address | 395 Jean Talon Street West |
| Coordinates | 45°31′50″N 73°37′25″W / 45.5305°N 73.6237°W |
| Current tenants | Joe Fresh |
| Inaugurated | 1931 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Colin Drewitt |
The station was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1931. Its traffic declined in the 1950s and it closed in 1984 when Via Rail transferred service to lines headed into Montreal Central Station. The City of Montreal purchased the building and the western end was converted as a metro station and the remainder of the building was adapted for business use. It currently houses a Joe Fresh outlet.
History
editThe Canadian Pacific Railway built the Park Avenue station, which was designed by architect Colin Drewitt and opened in 1931.[1] It was inaugurated in the presence of Camillien Houde, the mayor of Montreal at the time. Park Avenue station replaced the Mile End railway station, which was located near the corner of Saint Laurent Boulevard and Bernard Street.
In its time, all CPR trains headed toward Quebec City, Ottawa and the Laurentians, including Le Petit Train du Nord, travelled through Park Avenue Station.
The station's role as an important railway stop permitted the station to host many important figures. One such event occurred in 1939, when the station was the site of a royal visit by King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth, who were accompanied by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Park Avenue station was an important stop for railway passengers until the early 1950s. Following the closure of Place Viger in 1951, Park Avenue station suffered a swift decline in traffic. It was closed itself in 1984 when Via Rail Canada transferred the southern terminal of the Montreal-Quebec City (Sainte-Foy) via Trois-Rivières train service from Windsor Station to Montreal Central Station. The same year, the city of Montreal acquired the building and ceded part of the building to the Montreal Urban Community for the construction underground of the Montreal Metro's Parc station, which opened in 1987. In 1997, Exo's commuter rail station opened, using the name Jean-Talon; but this was later changed in 2000 to Parc in order to avoid confusion with the Jean-Talon Metro station.
The central portion of the building became an Indigo Books and Music store, which closed and was replaced by a Société des alcools du Québec store, which itself closed in 2010.
| Preceding station | Canadian Pacific Railway | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal West toward Montreal Windsor
|
Montreal – Quebec | Bordeaux toward Quebec
| ||
| Bordeaux toward Mont-Laurier
|
Montreal – Mont-Laurier | Montreal Place Viger Terminus
| ||
| Bordeaux toward Ottawa
|
Ottawa – Montreal via Montebello |
|||
Current use
editThe central portion of the building currently houses a Joe Fresh outlet. The Montreal Metro's Parc station occupies the western end of the building. Adjacent is the separate Parc commuter rail station.
Montreal Metro station
editParc | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 7245, Hutchison Street, Montreal, Quebec H3N 2Y8 Canada | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 45°31′49″N 73°37′26″W / 45.53028°N 73.62389°W | ||||||||||
| Operated by | Société de transport de Montréal | ||||||||||
| Connections | |||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Depth | 15.1 metres (49 feet 6 inches), 35th deepest | ||||||||||
| Accessible | No | ||||||||||
| Architect | Blouin, Blouin & Associés Colin M. Drewitt (Park Avenue Station) | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Fare zone | ARTM: A[2] | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 15 June 1987 | ||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||
| 2023[3][4] | 2,232,984  23.79% | ||||||||||
| Rank | 44 of 68 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Parc station serves the Blue Line of the Montreal Metro. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).[5]
The Metro station was built after the city purchased Jean-Talon station in 1984, and opened in 1987. The entrance was built in and under the building's far west end, with the entrance in the former men's smoking room. It is a normal side platform station. The platform level features a tabula scalata frieze by Huguette Desjardins, and the skylight at the foot of the stairs to the exit contains a sculpture called Métamorphose d'Icare by Claire Sarrasin, an homage to the local Greek community.
In 2022, the STM's Universal Accessibility Report noted that preliminary design work to make the station accessible was underway.[6]
Commuter trains
editParc | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 300 Ogilvy Avenue Montreal, Quebec H3N 2Y4[7] | ||||||||||
| Operated by | Exo (public transit) | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 side platforms | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Bus operators | Société de transport de Montréal | ||||||||||
| Connections | Blue Line | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||
| Parking | None[7] | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | 7 spaces[7] | ||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Fare zone | ARTM: A[2] | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | May 12, 1997 | ||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||
| 2019[8] | 863,500 (Exo) | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The Exo commuter rail operates a station immediately adjacent to the historic building. Parc station is part of Exo's Saint-Jérôme line. The Exo station's platforms are built along the main line; the space between the old Jean-Talon railway station building and the railway line, where the original platforms were located, is now occupied by a Maxi & Cie.
Connecting bus routes
edit| Société de transport de Montréal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Route | |||
 16 Graham
| |||
 80 Avenue du Parc
| |||
| 92 Jean-Talon Ouest
| |||
| 93 Jean-Talon
| |||
 365 Avenue du Parc
| |||
| 372 Jean-Talon
| |||
 480 Express Du Parc[9]
| |||
Nearby points of interest
edit- CLSC Parc Extension
- IGA Stadium
- Jarry Park
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Parc station at IMTL.org
- ^ a b "Fare Zones". Metropolitan Regional Transportation Authority. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ Société de transport de Montréal (2024-02-16). Entrants de toutes les stations de métro en 2023 (Report) – via Access to Information Act request, reference no. 0308.2024.021.
- ^ Société de transport de Montréal (2023-05-25). Entrants de toutes les stations de métro en 2022 (Report) – via Access to Information Act request, reference no. 0308.2023.134.
- ^ Parc Metro Station
- ^ "Rapport d'accessibilité universelle 2022". Société de transport de Montréal (in French). Retrieved 2023-08-16.
Les études préliminaires se sont également poursuivies pour les stations Longueuil, Parc, Sauvé, Radisson et Assomption.
- ^ a b c "Parc". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ Exo (2020-06-17). Réponse à votre demande d'accès à l'information (Report) – via Access to Information Act request, reference no. 2020-25.
- ^ "Latest bus news for September". Société de transport de Montréal. Retrieved 2019-08-22.