page_title: Golden Square Mile
section_title: Demolition
hierarchical_section_title: Golden Square Mile / Demolition
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Maison Frederick Redpath (1886), 3457, avenue du Musée, Montréal, Québec, Canada. English: Frederick Redpath House (1886), 3457, Du Musée Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
context_page_description: The Square Mile and also known as the Golden Square Mile is the nostalgic name given to an urban neighbourhood developed principally between 1850 and 1930 at the foot of Mount Royal, in the west-central section of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The name "Square Mile" has been used to refer to the area since the 1930s; prior to that, the neighborhood was known as 'New Town' or 'Uptown'. The addition of 'Golden' was coined by Montreal journalist Charlie Lazarus, and the name has connections to contemporary real-estate developments, as the historical delimitations of the Golden Square Mile overlap with Montreal's contemporary central business district.
  From the 1790s, the business leaders of Montreal looked beyond Old Montreal for spacious sites upon which to build their country homes. They developed the farmland of the slopes of Mount Royal north of Sherbrooke Street, creating a neighborhood notorious for its grandeur and architectural audacity. At the Square Mile's peak, its residents included the owners and operators of the majority of Canadian rail, shipping, timber, mining, fur and banking industries.
context_section_description: By the end of World War II, the homes within the Square Mile were for the most part left empty or only partially occupied. Montreal's central business district had shifted northwest toward Sherbrooke Street, in the area of the Square Mile. From 1945 to 1965, many of the great mansions were acquired by commercial and civic institutions and demolished or repurposed beyond all recognition.
  The majority of the mansions were demolished and replaced with high-rise office or residential developments, but some two dozen other homes were also transformed into university or commercial offices. Ravenscrag was left by Sir Montague and Lady Allan to the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1942. The sumptuous residence was converted into the Allan Memorial Institute, and McGill University used its fourteen acres of grounds to erect subsidiary buildings.
  Some demolitions were controversial. The Van Horne Mansion, the centre of Square Mile society since the 1930s was demolished by promoter David Azrieli in 1973, igniting a vigorous public debate regarding conservation of historical buildings, and the reasons for which a building should be preserved. The demolition of the Van Horne mansion led to the establishment of Heritage Montreal to protect historic buildings at the provincial level. The architectural character of the neighbourhood stabilized, but the original Square Mile as it had been had already changed beyond recognition.
caption: The Sochaczevski family bought Francis Redpath House in 1986, with intention to demolish it, and despite signing an agreement to maintain it, allowed the house fall into disrepair over the course of 28 years. It was demolished in 2014.
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