Dorchester Square
| Dorchester Square French: Square Dorchester |
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| Type | Town square |
| Location | Downtown Montreal, Ville-Marie Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°29′58″N 73°34′15″W / 45.4994°N 73.570892°WCoordinates: 45°29′58″N 73°34′15″W / 45.4994°N 73.570892°W |
| Area | 2.1 hectares (5.2 acres) |
| Created | 1876 |
| Operated by | City of Montreal |
| Status | Open all year |
Dorchester Square (officially in French: square Dorchester (originally Dominion Square, French: square Dominion) is a large urban square in downtown Montreal. Together with Place du Canada, the area is just over 21,000 m2 or 2.1 ha of manicured and protected urban parkland bordered by René Lévesque Boulevard to the south, Peel Street to the west, Metcalfe Street to the east and Dorchester Square Street to the north. The square is open to the public 24 hours a day and forms a focal point for pedestrian traffic in the city. Until the creation of Place du Canada in 1967, the name "Dominion Square" had been applied to the entire area.
Land acquisition to build the square began in 1872 and the site was inaugurated in 1878, though it wasn't thoroughly completed until 1892. The square has four statues that were originally arranged in the form of a Union Jack. In 2010, $14-million was spent on a redesign, with the removal of a flower stand on the southwest corner, all monuments refurbished, new street furniture added and a lighting scheme which has greatly improved the look of the square after dark. As a nod to the fact that it was once a cemetery, small crosses have been imbedded in the walkways. In addition, some lights are pointed to shine on the foliage of the many trees, allowing for an interesting nocturnal green glow in the summer. A planned renovation of Place du Canada has begun with renovations to the John A. Macdonald monument and the Cenotaph. A further renovation of Dorchester Square Street (including the bus/taxi parking area, subterranean garage entrance and exit and the kiosk) is planned, and it is possible that the square may be expanded with Dorchester Square Street converted for pedestrian use.
Up until 1854, the square was little more than a public green and an informal meeting place. Much of it was used for the Catholic Sainte-Antoine Cemetery, a hastily arranged cemetery for the victims of the 1851 Cholera Epidemic. In that year, the bodies were exhumed and moved to Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery on the northwestern side of Mount Royal. In 1869, St. George's Anglican Church was erected at the corner of Peel and De la Gauchetière. It spawned the construction of several other Protestant churches and cathedrals in and around Dominion Square, which was beginning to take form as a dividing line between the estates and suburbs of the northwest and the retail and commercial areas to the east and southeast. The 1870s provided several massive projects which made the green a central meeting point and prestige address that formalized the use of the square. Land acquisition began in 1872 and the park took its present form in 1878. Simultaneously, the Catholic Archdiocese began construction of Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral across the southeast corner of the square. On the western side of the square, the Windsor Hotel was completed by 1878. With such prestigious construction and massive human traffic, the square became a vital component of the urban environment and a focal point for transit between the office and commercial sectors and the retail and suburban sectors.
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