Peter Black
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Peterblack@qctonline.com
Exterior work has been halted and the security fence removed at the Maison Pollack site on Grande Allée.
Mayor Bruno Marchand announced at the end of August the city had abandoned the notion of creating a centre to celebrate and showcase diversity in the historic mansion.
The project had been advanced by the administration of Marchand’s predecessor, Régis Labeaume, as part of the rationale behind acquiring the building from a Montreal developer for $1.4 million in September 2022.
Since then, the city has poured at least $3.5 million into restoring the building. City spokesperson Jean-Pascal Lavoie told the QCT in an email that the city has “carried out work aimed at decontamination, stabilization and preservation of the building.”
Considerable work has been done on the exterior, repairing brickwork and refurbishing windows. The granite stonework for the stairs and platform of the main entrance structure is complete; the original, badly deteriorated, was demolished. The grounds surrounding the building have been freshly sodded.
What remains uncertain at this stage is whether the already costly renovation project will include the authentic restoration of the building’s most distinctive feature: the six towering columns of the portico. The new entrance foundation does have two footings for the forward columns should they be restored and replaced.
Lavoie said, “The colonnade, the balcony and the interior design work are part of a subsequent phase to be carried out when the new vocation of the building will be determined. The restoration work on the columns has therefore not started.”
The house was completed in 1910, designed in the neo-baroque style by famed architect René-Pamphile LeMay for merchant James McCarthy. Businessman and philanthropist Maurice Pollack and family lived in the house from 1930 until 1948; Pollack subsequently sold it to the federal government for use as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment. The RCMP moved out in the 1970s and the building became a rooming house. The city’s architectural heritage website says the Maison Pollack “constitutes one of the rare examples of the influence of neo-baroque architecture in domestic architecture in Quebec City and Quebec province. Its monumental colonnade, unique in Quebec, as well as certain brick details contribute greatly to the architectural value of this exceptional house.”
The question remains whether the building’s new vocation will allow for the expense of an authentic restoration and installation of Maison Pollack’s signature columns.
Photo by Peter Black
Much of the work on the exterior of Maison Pollack is completed. The columns could be restored once the city determines the building’s new vocation.
Photo by Peter Black
A peek through the window of the Maison Pollack shows the main staircase and a completely gutted interior. The Baptist church across Grand Allée can be seen in reflection.