| Windsor Station | |
|---|---|
 Windsor Station in 2017 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Office building, and formerlytrain station |
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| Location | 1160Canadiens-de-Montréal avenue (formerly 1160de la Gauchetière street) (concourse), 1100 Canadiens-de-Montréal avenue (offices),Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°29′50.86″N73°34′7.18″W / 45.4974611°N 73.5686611°W /45.4974611; -73.5686611 |
| Construction started | 1887 |
| Completed | 1889, 1916 |
| Cost | CA$2 million (1888–89) |
| Owner | Cadillac Fairview[1] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Bruce Price |
| Awards and prizes | Heritage railway station (Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada) |
| Official name | Windsor Station (Canadian Pacific) National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 1975 |
| Designated | 1990 |
| Type | Historic monument |
| Designated | 2009 |
Windsor Station is an office building and formerrailway station inMontreal, Quebec, Canada. It used to be the city'sCanadian Pacific Railway (CPR) station, and served as the headquarters of CPR from 1889 to 1996. It is bordered byAvenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal to the north,Peel Street to the east,Saint Antoine Street to the south and theBell Centre to the west.
Windsor Station was designated aNational Historic Site of Canada in 1975,[2] and was designated a Heritage Railway Station in 1990,[3] and a provincial historic monument in 2009.[4]
The walls are graylimestone from a quarry in Montreal. Outside, the columns reach up to 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) wide.
In 1887, theCanadian Pacific Railway (CPR) began to build a railway station in Montreal, which would serve as its headquarters, three years after the completion of theDalhousie Station in 1884. The Windsor Station project was entrusted toNew York City architectBruce Price, who chose aRomanesque Revival style for the building.[5] Price had to submit four versions of his plans to satisfy the treasurer of CPR, before the project was accepted. It was constructed at a cost ofCA$300,000 (equivalent to $10,588,156 in 2023),[6] and the first trains departed February 4, 1889.[7] It was known as the Windsor Street Station, named for the street on which it was located, Windsor Street (todayPeel Street).[8]
It was expanded for the first time from 1900 to 1903, and again from 1910 to 1913 by Canadian architects. The third expansion, in 1916, included a fifteen-storey tower which dramatically altered Montreal's skyline. The project was entrusted to the firm of brothersEdward andWilliam Maxwell.
Windsor Station formed an integral component ofDominion Square as a diffuser of passenger traffic and as a central terminus for other modes of transportation. The building skirted Windsor Street (today Peel Street) and Osborne Street (todayAvenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal) between Donegani (located halfway between Osborne Street andSaint Antoine Street). The building had four floors up to Osborne Street and five floors at street-level on Donegani Street because of the slope of the terrain.
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In July 1970, CPR announced its plans to demolish Windsor Station and build a 60-storey office building on the site. The building, which was going to costCA$250 million, was to be designed by the same architects asNew York City'sWorld Trade Center. After several delays the project was abandoned.[9]
Via Rail was created in 1978 and took over the responsibility for operating intercity passenger trains of bothCanadian National CN and CPR. During Via's first months there was no operational change for CPR or CN trains, as they used their respective crews, routes, equipment and stations. However, by the summer of 1979, the integration process began, and most of Via's former CP trains that used Windsor Station were consolidated at CN'sCentral Station, including CP's former transcontinental passenger services such asThe Atlantic Limited andThe Canadian, both of which were also renamed to be bilingually appropriate. Via Dayliners (Budd Rail Diesel Cars) operating between Windsor Station and St. Sacrement station in Quebec City via the CP route north of the St. Lawrence River continued to use Windsor Station until 1984.Amtrak's daily Montreal-New York City train (theAdirondack) continued to use Windsor Station until 1986. Both the dayliners and theAdirondack were switched to Central Station. Local services to Ottawa viaMontebello and toMont-Laurier, both of which had been transferred from CPR to Via, continued to use Windsor Station until they were cancelled in 1981.
After intercity passenger service was removed, Windsor Station continued to be acommuter rail terminal for theSTCUM's (nowExo's)Montréal/Dorion-Rigaud suburban train (now Vaudreuil-Hudson line). In 1999, service toBlainville (now Saint-Jérôme line) was added, and in 2001, service toDelson (now Candiac line).
In 1993, construction began on the Molson Centre (nowBell Centre), a hockey arena to replace theMontreal Forum. The arena site was located immediately west of Windsor Station on the trackage which served the station platforms, resulting in the historic station being severed from the rail network. The Molson Centre opened its doors on March 16, 1996, and the newLucien-L'Allier Station was opened at the western end of the arena structure to replace the now-closed suburban train terminal at Windsor Station. Until 2001, the new train station was called Terminus Windsor, but this was changed to reduce confusion with the original station building and to indicate a link to theLucien-L'Allier metro (subway) station which is below the station building. It is still possible to walk through the Bell Centre to connect with Windsor Station and the Lucien L'Allier metro station.
Windsor Station, and now Lucien-L'Allier Station (known in French as 'Terminus Lucien-L'Allier'), are at the eastern end of CPR's Westmount Subdivision. It served as CP's downtown west end train terminus. Its counterpart downtown east end terminus wasPlace Viger.
Windsor Station also housed the headquarters of CPR and its parent companyCanadian Pacific Limited until, after a corporate restructuring in the mid-1990s, the railway abandoned or sold most of its trackage east of Montreal and focused its activities inWestern Canada. In 1996, CP moved its headquarters to Gulf Canada Square inCalgary.
Since 1993, the structure is no longer connected to the rail network. It was sold by CP toCadillac Fairview in 2009[10] (thus removing it from the jurisdiction of theHeritage Railway Stations Protection Act; consequently, it was classified as a provincial heritage site that same year).
Also located in the station is the Canadian Railway Office of Arbitration.
The rest of Windsor Station has been redeveloped into an office complex and houses some restaurants and cafés. The interior concourse, which is open to the public, can be rented for private and public events. The lower floor is part of theRÉSO and connects theBonaventure metro station with theLucien-L'Allier commuter rail station as well as theBell Centre. The 13 terminal tracks running into Windsor Station and the overhead canopy have been removed, and replaced by a public square.
| Preceding station | Canadian Pacific Railway | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westmount towardVancouver | Main Line | Terminus | ||
| Westmount towardQuebec | Montreal –Quebec | |||
| Westmount towardOttawa | Ottawa –Montreal Short Line | |||
| Westmount towardRigaud | Montreal –Rigaud local stops | |||
| Westmount towardDetroit | Detroit –Montreal | |||
| Westmount towardWells River | Montreal –Wells River | |||
| Westmount towardMcAdam | Montreal –McAdam | |||
| Preceding station | New York Central Railroad | Following station | ||
| Westmount towardUtica | Adirondack Division | Terminus | ||
| Preceding station |  Amtrak | Following station | ||
| Westmount towardNew York (Grand Central) | Adirondack Rerouted in 1983 | Terminus | ||
National Historic Sites of Canada by location | |
|---|---|
| Provinces | |
| Territories | |
| Other countries | |
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