New York Life Insurance Building, Montreal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from New York Life Building, Montreal)
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see New York Life Insurance Building.
New York Life Insurance Building
NYLI Bldg 4.jpg
General information
Location Montreal, Quebec Canada
Status Complete
Constructed 1887
Use Office
Technical details
Floor count 8
Companies involved
Architect Babb, Cook and Willard

Montreal's New York Life Insurance Building (also known as the Quebec Bank Building) was erected in 1887. Located at Place d'Armes in what is now known as Old Montreal, it was the tallest commercial building in Montreal at the time. The first eight floors were designed for retail office space, though were quickly rented by the city's best lawyers and financiers. As such, when the clock tower was completed, the 9th and 10th floors were occupied by the largest legal library in the entire country, a gift to the tenants from the owner.

The New York Life Insurance Building was built by architects Babb, Cook and Willard and contractor Peter Lyall for the New York Life Insurance Company as their offices in Canada. Sculptor Henry Beaumont enhanced the ornate exterior.[1]

It is accessed via the Place-d'Armes Metro and is adjacent to other prominent Montreal landmarks, such as the Aldred Building (1931), the Bank of Montreal Building (1859/1901), the Place d'Armes Hotel, Notre-Dame Basilica and 500 Place D'Armes.

The name of the Quebec Bank is carved over the entrance. The bank occupied the ground floor and purchased the building in 1909, before being absorbed into the Royal Bank of Canada in 1917.[2]

The Old Red Sandstone used in the construction was imported from Dumfriesshire, Scotland.[2]

View of the building from across Place d'Armes, taken in mid 1970s.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Place d'Armes". A View on Cities. http://www.aviewoncities.com/montreal/placedarmes.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-03. 
  2. ^ a b Gazette article, "The tallest of them all (in 1888)"
  • Rémillard, François, Old Montreal - A Walking Tour, Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, 1992

[edit] External links


This article about a building or structure in Quebec is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Life_Insurance_Building,_Montreal"