Bishop Court Apartments Explained

Bishop Court Apartments
Native Name:French: Appartements Bishop Court
Native Name Lang:French
Architectural Style:Tudor Revival
Cost:C$50,000
Ren Cost:C$600,000
Client:Robert Neville Jr.
Address:1463 Bishop Street
Location Town:Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Location Country:Canada
Coordinates:45.4974°N -73.5776°W
Completion Date:1904
Renovation Date:1975
Floor Count:3
Architecture Firm:Saxe and Archibald

Bishop Court Apartments (French: '''Appartements Bishop Court''') is a historic apartment building in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1463 Bishop Street, at the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard West in Downtown Montreal.

The apartment building is three stories, and comprises three wings, linked together in a "U" shape around a small interior courtyard. It formerly consisted of six apartments of six rooms per wing, for a total of 18 apartments.[1]

It is built in Neo-Tudor style, and is reflective of a 15th-century English manor house.[2] Its facade is polychrome Scottish sandstone. The metal grille in the archway entrance was added in the 1970s.[3]

History

The Bishop Court Apartments were built on land that was formerly a cricket field.[4] The building was constructed in 1904 for C$50,000. The plans were prepared by Saxe and Archibald for Robert Neville Jr. Charles Jewett Saxe (1870-1943) has also worked on the Ernest Cormier Building, the Montreal Technological Institute, and Emmanuel United Church.[5]

Between 1953 and 1956, De Maisonneuve Boulevard (then Burnside Street) was widened between Stanley Street and Guy Street to provide more room for automobile traffic. The adjacent building was demolished, leaving Bishop Court with a blank wall facing De Maisonneuve Boulevard.

Concordia University began leasing the building in 1975 to provide offices for its senior administration.[4] Following the threat of its demolition in 1976, the Government of Quebec recognized the facade on Bishop Street, as well as the interior courtyard, as historic sites. Concordia purchased the building in February 1981.

The building was renovated extensively in 1975 for C$600,000 to adapt it into offices from residential units. The renovations were controversial at the time, although contributed to preventing the building from being demolished. It was renovated again in 1995.

Concordia University sold Bishop Court in 2010 for approximately C$3.2 million.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Barbara Solomon, The Bishop Court Apartments
  2. Book: Rémillard. François. Merrett. Brian. Pierre Miville-Déchênes. Montreal Architecture: A guide to styles and buildings. 2007. Les Editions Café Crème. Saint-Adèle, Quebec. 9782923644011. 141. The Neo-Tudor Style.
  3. Web site: Sir George Williams Campus: Bishop Court. Records Management and Archives. Concordia University. 2 June 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150519154328/http://archives.concordia.ca/bishop-court. 19 May 2015.
  4. Web site: Appartements Bishop Court. Grand répertoire de patrimoine bâti à Montréal. Ville de Montréal. French. 2 June 2012.
  5. Book: Pinard, Guy. Montréal, son histoire, son architecture. 1987. Éditions la Presse.
  6. Web site: So long, Bishop Court. Giovannetti. Justin. 2010-02-09. The Link. 2 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120725121016/http://pre2010.thelinknewspaper.ca/articles/2245. 2012-07-25. dead.