JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1510 West
Baie d’Urfé’s town hall is a big part of the town’s 113-year history.
First constructed as a farmhouse in 1875, 36 years before the town was granted a charter, and just eight years after the British North America Act established Canada as a unified dominion of the British Empire, the property was purchased in 1909 by James Morgan II as a summer home.
Morgan came from the prominent Morgan merchant family, who had helped establish Montreal’s elite Golden Square Mile neighbourhood. He had been serving as president of the Henry Morgan & Company, which would later be purchased by The Hudson’s Bay Company in 1960, giving The Bay access to key markets in Montreal and Toronto.
Morgan was one of the founders of the town of Baie d’Urfé when the town charter was established in 1911. In 1912 he donated the building to the town to be used as a town hall, along with several other parcels of land that would be dedicated for public use.
It is at this time that town councillor and prominent architect Edward Maxwell volunteered to renovate the building.
Maxwell, alongside his brother, William Sutherland Maxwell, who had made a name for himself in Montreal and across Canada for his buildings designed in the beaux arts style, renovated the building for use as a town hall.
Some of William Sutherland Maxwell’s most notable works include designing the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Canadian Pacific Railway Station in Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan Legislative Building. The brothers were also responsible for two renovation projects for the Château Frontenac in Quebec City.
The renovation of the town hall was completed in 1914 and played host to the first Baie d’Urfé town council, which was presided over by Mayor Vivian de Vere Dowker.
That name may ring a bell for Baie d’Urfé residents, as each time they look out on the water, they see Dowker Island, named after the prominent family that helped develop their town, as well as neighbouring Ste. Anne de Bellevue.