Monday, August 10, 2009

Tail Race Canal

I got this photo on Google Earth. Notice the Tail Race Canal behind the Mgr Richard School.. Isn't it incredible.

Guy

11 comments:

Les F said...

Guy you say this is MGR Richard School ? I thought that was the name of the school on Galt Avenue ? I do see a large building with a big baseball field beside it,but that cannot be the Galt street school ,can it? Thanks for any info.............................................HF&RV
What is the name of the school on Galt ? could you remind me,Thanks

Guy Billard said...

Les,
The Mgr Richard school on Galt was converted to a residential building. The areal photo is at the intersection of Henri Duhamel and Gaétan Laberge with access to the Champlain bridge.
Guy

Les F said...

Oh Ok this is new to me, so they have a new Mgr Richard,......that makes sense! I just thought the old school was closed,as I have photos of it with all the windows broken out of it,a picture I took while on one of my visit's backthere. I know they were converted to condo's ,but I didn't know they built a new school,......a lot has changed for sure...............the riverfront gets better looking all the time.I have seen some of the improvements,but not in recent years,I haven't been back since around 2000 ? HF&RV

Bob Gaboury said...

I miss the old corner of 2nd and LaSalle, along with LeBlanc's chips, boat rentals the old board walk.
Now you can almost walk out to the Nun's Island. Same with the Natatorium, they extended the facility way out past the old boardwalk, you can still see some of the stone stanchions that held up the rails and lamp post.

Guy Billard said...

Gabby,
I agree wholeheartedly. our family would rent a boat (chaloupe Verchere who filed for bankrupcy recently) at Leblanc's on sundays and spend a good part of the day on Nun's Island wich was all trees. I still recall the boardwalk made of wood wich was changed to asphalt at the beginning of the 40s. Keep those memories coming.
Guy

Ken McLaughlin said...

You can walk there along the trail that runs along the river, though it does get a bit jungle like in a few spots. Used to be called Shit Creek in my day but is actually the original mouth of the Saint Pierre river that ran down from Cote Saint Luc through NDG down the Falaise Saint Jacques through Turcot into Cote Saint Paul and finally out into the river at Verdun. This and a little spot on Meadowbrook Golf Course in Cote Saint Luc are the only places where the original river is still visible.

KenM

Guy Billard said...

Ken,
Andrew Emond of SPACING MONTREAL added the following valuable historical information on the Trail Race:

"As far as I can tell, the actual Tail Race never extended further south than where Blvd. Gaetan Laberge is today. All the shorreline beyond that point was added during the 1950s. The extent of the landfill is evident shortly before that time, the tailrace was covered and two large diameter sewers were laid in its place one of wich is known as the St-Pierre Collector.
The tailrace pretty much became obsolete when the plant stopped using water from the Aqueduct to power its engines. So the canal we see today was added more as a discharge channel for these two sewers than an actual tailrace for the Atwater plant.
There is a small overflow tunnel that runs between the plant and the St-Pierre collector, but I don't imagine it gets used too often.

Thus another chapter in the history of the TAIL RACE.

Guy

Les F said...

Ken although I can't remember ever exploring there I can't help but remember all the times all us kids were 'up shit creek' for something or other..........................................hf&rv

robert jomphe said...

Guy since you remember the old boardwalk, do you have anything on the old verdun boat club? Like pictures before the fire ect... I can't remember if the Commodore's name was Arseneault or Filiatreau something like that when we paddled in the sixties. We had a wharf and a building behind the stadium. There were a few pictures from the old days on the office wall and a few trophies that had been saved from the fire. I wonder where they got to?

Guy Billard said...

Robert,
Check out my photo Album no. 5 on my site you will see a photo of the 1962 VMBC marina photo showing a storage box not unfamiliar with the one I had in the middle 50s as I was a member of the club. You will also notice the Aauditorium in the background. You will also see a photo of me with my Verchère boat and 25 HP Johnson motor dated July 1955 somewhare on the river. I was not aware that the club house had burnt down. Do you know when as there might be a photo in the old Guardians we have at the sopciety (SHGV).

Guy

robert jomphe said...

Club 500 Social & Swimming Club That`s it. I heard they were all kinds of parties there. I used to work with Fred Bunce and he told me that once while they visited the Longueuil club he fell in the water drunk and had to be saved. I don`t know the year.