These are two articles reprinted from the WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT Weekly. Vol. 8 No. 4a. Both were written by Laureen Sweeney and published on 1 April 2014.
Armoury Not Up to Fire Code, Future Uncertain
Quietly and without fanfare, most functions of the 34 Combat Engineer Regiment – formerly the 3rd Field Engineer regiment – moved out of the Hillside Armoury on the week of February 19 after 67 years in Westmount.
The Regiment has taken up new quarters at Canadian Forces Base Longue Pointe in east-end Montreal but it has access to the armoury until June, LCol Benoit Doré, commanding officer, told the Independent last week. Meanwhile, military personnel will be in and out.
The new quarters at Longue Pointe “are supposed to be temporary,” he said, “and the militia unit intends to maintain its links with Westmount.”.
Might it return? “That depends on real estate,” he suggested.
The armoury, which bears the addresses 1 and 3 Hillside Lane, requires “a lot of work” to bring it up to fire code standards, Doré explained. Although brick work was undertaken in 2012, even more work is required.
A final dinner and last parade take place at the armoury April 12 “to mark the closing of the Hillside armoury and to celebrate the move of the regiment,” according to an invitation sent to its members.
“I don’t know what happens to the armoury after that,” Doré said. “Maybe another branch of the government will move in. Maybe it will be put up for sale. All I know is that they offered me a brand new build-ing.”.
Longue Pointe is the headquarters of the Army’s 34th Brigade, which the engineer regiment supports.
The militia unit has been based at the armoury since 1949 when it moved out of the Westmount Athletic Grounds, which had been used by the military during World War II.
The regiment was accorded “freedom of the city” status by the city in 1981 for its contribution to the community. This tradition allows a military unit to march “with bayonets fixed” through a territory.
Doré said he was unaware of any protocol that would change this designation with the regiment’s departure to another jurisdiction (Montreal).
The unit formed an integral component of the Westmount “garrison” along with the Royal Montreal Regiment and 34 Signal Regiment (formerly 712 Communication Squadron). In 2006, the regiment was combined with the 9th Field Engineer Squadron from Rouyn Noranda and renamed 34 Combat Engineers.
The Regiment’s pending departure had been well known for several years but the timing caught many by surprise.
“After all these years, I was expecting a call from the commanding officer when they were leaving,” Mayor Peter Trent said last week. He said he would be unable to attend the final dinner.
Zoned residential, the armoury has vested rights as an assembly building as long as it continues to be used for that purpose, according to city Urban Planning director Joanne Poirier. These rights expire after one year if not exercised or if the building undergoes demolition (see separate story, above).
The 3 Field Engineers achieved regimental status in 1948 two years after being created through the union of the 4th Field Company and 16th Field Company on their return from overseas action in World War II.
At that time, in 1946, they moved into what was then “the main building” at the Westmount Athletic Grounds (since demolished) before taking up residence at the Hillside Armoury.
The regiment’s close association with the city dates back to its personal ties with the late mayor Michael Tucker (1965-1968) who served as its commanding officer in 1947-1948. As well, the late alderman Charles Aspler had served overseas with one of the regiment’s founding units in World War II.
The late Donald MacCallum, mayor of Westmount from 1975 to 1983, also served at that time as the regiment’s honorary colonel.
It was he who presided as mayor at the “freedom of the city” ceremony in 1981 saying in his address: “the citizens of Westmount have ample reason to be proud of what I like to think of as our Westmount garrison in general and of the 3 Field Engineer Regiment in particular.”.
Last year, Mayor Trent organized a commemorative ceremony with the regiment to mark the 50th anniversary of the day Sgt.-Maj. Walter Leja suffered critical injuries while removing one of 11 bombs placed in Westmount mailboxes by the FLQ (the Front de Libération du Québec).
Leja, who died in 1992, had been acting in his role as a military engineer with the regiment.
Building Began as Riding School, Became Military Later On
So, what’s to become of the soon-to-be vacated Hillside Armoury? With its future uncertain as the 34 Combat Engineers move to new quarters, the proximity of the building at the corner of Hillside Ave. and Hillside Lane to the Westmount Athletic Grounds has led to suggestions over the last few years that it was a natural venue for an indoor pool or other use by the city’s Sports and Recreation department.
Currently in need considerable repair, however, the building is not up to fire code standards, one of the reasons the military unit is leaving (see story, p. 1).
Located in a residential zone, its potential use includes a seniors’ residence, according to city Urban Planning director Joanne Poirier.
Its acquired rights as an assembly building would be lost, however, if ever the building were to be converted to residential.
Its development is limited to three storeys in height and further restricted by its heritage rating of Category II accorded “probably because of its historical association,” Poirier said.
While the two-storey building is listed by the federal Treasury Board as having a floor area of 5,241 square meters, Poirier describes it as “small” in terms of potential redevelopment.
If demolished, any replacement building would be even smaller because it would have to conform to the current larger setbacks on both Hillside Ave. and Hillside Lane, she pointed out.
As an assembly building, it could be used by other groups such as a badminton club, she said, noting the building has a gym though Poirier said she doubted it would be big enough to house a municipal pool.
And Mayor Peter Trent last week repeat ed a familiar phrase: “Westmount already has so many properties, we don’t need any more”
History Goes Back to Riding Academy
The history of the building at 1-3 Hillside dates back to 1910, according to a research report prepared in 1981 by then city clerk Robert Wilkins.
It was in April of 1910 that the Mount Royal Stables Ltd. applied for and received city council approval to erect a stable and riding academy at the Hillside site. At the same time, the council is reported to have redesignated “the artery” (Hillside Ave.) as “a business street.”.
The riding academy, which appears to have operated for at least several years, was separately reported to have been advertis - ed as “the largest and best ring in Canada.”.
While the Mount Royal Stables appear - ed on city property rolls as the owner until 1920, the building’s first association with the military was suggested when the property roll deposited in 1918 listed the “occupant” as “military stables.”.
Its outright ownership by the government first appeared in the roll of 1921 under the name of (King) George V with the occupant being the “Department of Militia – Barracks, and Public Works Department – Stores.”.
Lower Canada College’s archives show that the school used the building as a gym in the 1920s and 1930s, likely on a parttime rental basis.
Through ensuing years, the occupant became the “Department of National Defence and Mechanical Transport – ordinance stores,” with the designation of stores being located at number 3 Hillside and the garage at civic number 1.
There was a period when the building was understood to have been used for the storage of ice blocks used for refrigeration.
It was not until 1958, nine years after the 3rd Field Engineer Regiment had moved in, however, that the words “Hillside Armoury” were added officially to what had become the DND ownership.
“It is unclear,” the Wilkins report concludes, “whether any specific regiment occupied the armoury before the 3rd Field Engineer Regiment.
The 712 Communication Squadron moved into the section listed as 1 Hillside Lane in 1954 but relocated in late 1996 to the Westmount Armoury on St. Catherine at Blenheim Place, the home of the Royal Montreal Regiment.
See original publication at http://www.westmountindependent.com/WIv8.4a.pdf