Golden Square Mile - Continued Threats of Further Demolition

Continued Threats of Further Demolition

Modern architects have superseded their predecessors from the 1950s through to the 1970s by demonstrating how to preserve the edifices and character of Montreal's historic buildings while incorporating them into modern use. The shining example was the work done by Alcan in the early 1980s on their new headquarters on Sherbrooke Street, Maison Alcan, formerly the home of Lord Atholstan. Another example came in 1990 after Lady Meredith House, home to McGill's Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, was broken into and set on fire. McGill renovated and retrofitted the old house to its original elegance, hiring Julia Gersovitz, a McGill graduate and professor, and her firm, Gersovitz, Becker & Moss for the project. Threats to Montreal's architectural history across the city are ever present today, and the threat of continued erosion to the Square Mile prevails, despite the provisos set up to supposedly protect them.