Walk # 17 – The Point Part 3

“Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn–that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness–that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.”
― Jane Austen, Persuasion

Getting to really like Point Saint Charles in ways I never appreciated before – the incredible diversity of its architecture, the nooks and crannies, the walls and the separations, the uncanny unlikelihood of this ever being a united community, yet The Point carries on…

Started at Charlevoix Metro.

Regal brasserie across the diagonal at Charlevoix and Centre.

Terrace in the back.

Moving “north” along Charlevoix.

And east along Saint Charles. I grew up in a house with bay windows so they tend to catch my eye.

Another take on the Montreal triplex.

The middle window is pure WTF?

Garage doors.

Compared to most buildings of this size/situation this is practically all windows!!

At the back of Eglise la maison du poitier.

Seen this on walls in Verdun this year too.

Hard to get a good pic with the fence there, sometimes it works, not so much this time.

Almost suburban.

Highly symmetrical. but somehow it breathes…

Last time we saw this was in the rain.

Continuing along Richardson, vast former Northern Electric factory today known as Le Nordelec.

 

Out of business, at this location anyway.

Fire station sits on the corner of Parc Joe Beef.

Nice little block at the end of Richardson.

Corner of Conde and Grand Trunk.

Yea.

“Cooperative LesTenaces”

Nice colour run along the top of Grand Trunk.

Renovation.

You never know where you will find a nice little house tucked in.

And here is one of the most interesting staircases ever!!

Couldn’t resist looking up. Two doors and a skylight.

Another view of the Ukrainian Catholic Holy Ghost Church.

Back up and along Conde. Old Factory.

Redpath Silos (and found this delightful passage on the Redpath About page – “With limited funds for ship passage, the near penniless John (Redpath) disembarked at Quebec City, then walked barefoot to Montreal, at the time a city of only 16,000 residents. Once there, he found employment in the construction industry, working as a stonemason.” Wondering if it was all uphill?).

I once took the stairs to the top there when I was doing some stills for a Concordia student film in the yard on the other side of the silos. I will never forget that there was about 2 inches of bird shit on each step and that there was actually a light on in that passage way that connects the silos! Was a fun experience and I wish I had taken a lot more pictures than I did (I have maybe 6-7 pics somewhere).

Another view with Allezup.

A view of downtown.

Tidy.

Nice looking corner. Could we say that is a below grade witch’s hat?

Different view of that building at Conde and Grand Trunk. And this is one of the great advantages of overlapping streets in such a quest as, “Walk every street in…,” it lets you enjoy things from  different perspectives, basic life lesson for sure…

Interesting block at Conde and Richardson.

*Canada Sugar Refining Co.* Redpath.

Same factory but from the street below.

Joe Beef Park.

Holy Trinity Parish.  And apologies for cutting off the steeple.

La Cite des Batisseurs.

Long view of the building we already know is being renovated.

Corner.

Thought this was different.

Former Richmond street, now known as rue de la Sucerie. The Point was not home to a zillion sugar factories and the former Redpath factory, including its huge silos, is now a fabulous Lachine Canal condo project, very well known to anyone who has the slightest comprehension of this area. Basically, this name change is bullshit. It remains, however, Richmond street, in the Little Burgundy part of that street.

Parc Mullins

I love old trees.

And on the other side of that house is a little alley that connects back to Parc Mullins.

Beautiful corner building.

Looking down Maple.

Friendly, comfy.

Film season in town with the low Canadian dollar.

Ecole Primaire Charles Lemoyne.

I really like the way they close the street to traffic so the kids can have a decent school yard.

Shady spot.

Adjacent park makes for an extended activities area.

Sports are important at a young age. And every other age 🙂

Looking towards downtown.

Leads into Parc des Apprentis.

Looking back.

Fire station converted to a children’s library.

Looking up Hibernia. Significant location in the grand scheme of Point things as this is one of the very few streets that goes under the train tracks that create one of the divides in the Point.

I don’t know if these are condos or social housing but they are colorful in a positive way.

Nobody playing on these hot dog days of August.

More. Because they seem cool to me. Make me wonder what they look like inside and if it doesn’t do that, it just aint got that swing, know what I mean?

Well, I really hope I am wrong, but, this, based on my observations of all my walks around town this summer, is the only functioning wading pool in the city. Please correct me if I am wrong and you have a pic of another functioning wading pool in the city.

Staircase on the right.

There is simply some kind of super awesomeness going on there but I, being somewhat in a state of flabbairgastay (said with a French accent), have no words for this totally radical interpretation of the Montreal triplex. I bow, nay, I am on my knees! 🙂

Mullins and Charlevoix. This is now a bronzage studio but I believe it was Nap’s tavern back in the day. A few years ago I wrote the beginning of a song that was to be part of a musical about bars in the Point. In this particular scene a girl is unable to connect with her father who is inside the men-only tavern (this would be in the 1960-70s) and a passenger train goes by on the bridge you can see down the street while she is anxiously pacing outside the bar and she breaks into this tune about maybe a better life wherever those trains go…yea, super corny, but what the hell, still game to try this if any potential collaborators are out there…?

I am taking a picture of this super market on Charlevoix simply to state that the Point was forever, and continues to be, because this location is not convenient to 75% of Point residents (walking distance), a terrible place for local shopping. There is improved public transportation from, say, 20 or 30 years ago, but the Point remains a place isolated from the rest of Montreal in the “shopping” sense, and this can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. For a walker, not a car owner, the Point is extremely attractive, in that it has so much urban beauty,  but it is simply not as practical as living, say, close to Wellington street in Verdun. I think this IGA opened in the late 80’s, in any case…

That housing project going  towards Butler.

Once again, looking towards Verdun.

Going to turn up Reading.

Yet another lovely take on the Triplex.

And over on to Knox.

Looking up Pacific.

Looking down Pacific.

Very well maintained building.

Community garden up the street.

So alike, yet so different.

Knox may have been my surprise street in the Point, lots of diversity and seemingly personal expression on this street.

The garden rolls up to Charlevoix.

Train overpass.

Mural wall on Knox.

Detail. The Point is an amazing place. I was never so proud of any Montreal community as I was when the citizens of Point Saint Charles were able to organize and stop a proposed Loto Quebec Casino/Cirque du Soleil complex in their neighborhood. Now that is what you call giant slaying!

Ivy with Flag and Blue Car.

Very nice.

A  little house tucked in back there – Facade? Gate? Entrance? How about a tree?

This is not the vast mindless wasteland of the new Griffintown with its massive condo projects everywhere. The Point makes you want to live there because you almost feel like you know who lives in these places, it’s humanity on a perfect, doable,  and friendly scale where raising a family in a good community is not impeded by elevator waiting time (dense streets of duplexes and triplexes, even if developers hate the low profit margins of low rise communities, are the way to go if you want to build great communities).

At the bottom of Knox I decided to take this lane back up to Charlevoix.

I love seeing people so engaged with their space.

That guy up there is actually painting the railing that should be there to prevent him from just falling out.

Couldn’t resist applying the aesthetic style I had developed during my Verdun Lanes project.

Long shed.

And I come out back on Charlevoix.

Crossed under and looking back at a passenger train passing over, passing through. (Same scenario as the song mentioned above).

Heading back to the starting point.

And the Charlevoix Metro is the end of the road!

Another excellent walk. I am falling behind in real time here as I am actually up to Walk #25, and close to entering a new season, but it does take about 10-12 hours of focused concentration to do these posts so they are not going to happen simultaneously especially as various other  priorities need to be met. But I hope you enjoy them, let me know what you think, and above all, just keep being you. Lots of love from the ‘ol photoflanneur!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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