Sunday, October 24, 2010

YMCA Swimming Pool

 

 

I thought I would try out my new camera and took randomly this photo of a group of swimmers at the YMCA pool. The photo appreared in The Guardian dated April 29th 1948. Unfortunately, my flash was not on thus the poor results. This was one of my regular activities in the 40s as the "Y" was just around the corner from my home. To the right of the "Y" was a field where we played baseball in the summer and there was a skating rink where we played hockey in the winter.

I am also including an old photo of the "Y" and a recent one I took of the residential complex that replaced it.

Are there any members that remember that YMCA at 1000 Gordon street wich was between Bannantyne and the aqueduct (Champlain Blvd did not exhist in the 40s).

Guy

Source: ARCHIVES SHGV  

Please check out my Album no. 21 for more photos on the "Y".

40 comments:

Les F said...

I used to take swimming lessons in that pool in the early 60's (Champlain of course did exist then.lol)
However the pool was no longer part of the Y ,but incorporated into the new french school that had replaced the Y building. I think I earned two or three badges for swimming (Red Cross badges ,I think they were)........HF&RV....... I did post photos on the interior of the old pool & lobby of the old Y many years back,.I'm sure many of you saved these too........ Cheers !! HF&RV

Les F said...

an old Montreal Gazette article re: Verdun YMCA on Gordon
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NYwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QagFAAAAIBAJ&dq=verdun%20ymca%20swimming&pg=2988%2C1939441
HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Les,
I did not know that the Y building was purchased by the french sector. I will have to make some more research on that as it is the first time I hear about it. Was the old Y building demolished but kept the pool ?
Guy

john allison said...

Absoluetly remember the "Y"'. Went to Bananntyne School, in the 50's and we all took swimming lessons there. Somehow the pool look a lot bigger than the recent pictures we have seen. Also enjoyed playing ping pong, and the parties they had up on the second floor. They also broadcast "Call Me Uncle" from there for awhile. Excellent memories.... That is for sure. If I remember it was quite swampy in that area, and also remember there was a old "street car" I think in the back where they actually canned tomatoes or other vegetables.

Diane Roberts said...

Nice work Guy, I don't remember the YMCA pool, but I do know I have a certificate for swimming lessons packed away somewhere. I always thought it was from the Nat., but Winston's post makes me wonder if it was the old Y pool. I went to Bannantyne School during the 50!, so I think I'll have to dig out the old certificate from the memory box...my memory sure isn't helping!...Diane

Diane Roberts said...

I remember going to dances at the YMCA, but I thought it was out towards Lasalle somewhere?
Help me out here....Diane
P.S. Other dances were at Dompolski Hall in the Pointe & Lucky Seven uptown.

Les F said...

dr676third said
I remember going to dances at the YMCA, but I thought it was out towards Lasalle somewhere?
Help me out here....Diane
P.S. Other dances were at Dompolski Hall in the Pointe & Lucky Seven uptown.
there was axtually 3 locations for the Y in Verdun,.one was on Wellington Street btwn Gordon & Galt (before my time) the other was Gordon Avenue where the Pool was,the Third Location where the dances were held came later (long after the Gordon & Wellington Y's disappeared) and that 3rd location was on Lasalle blvd, just past the Douglas Hospital .towards Lasalle but before Crawford Park
.and the pool on Gordon was kept by the new school ,after the Y disappeared. HF&RV

Les F said...

Yes that's the way I remember the story ,that the new school kept the pool,because it was a school when I took lessons there.& my brother once told me that the Y used to be in that spot. My brother was a friend of Winston's brother,and so it does keep in line with Winstons post being a Y.
---HF&RV---
ps: I can remember coming out of there on a cold winter night & our hair would almost immediately freeze,my brother used to drive me there & pick me up later. I think it was on Tuesday nights.???

robert jomphe said...

I hit my head at the bottom of that pool. From then on I made sure to dive forward not down, I had a scab for weeks. I guess the school was built in the early 60's my uncle worked on the construction of college Maria(not complety sure) I used to get the crew soup and sandwiches from our cafeteria and I got really good tips from them. I believe when I was going swimming it was still YMCA but you didn't have to swim naked like they said it used to be. Was it true or just a story to keep catholics away, because we weren't allowed to be seen naked anywhere. I just don't know, I was told that you had to swim naked at the central y in montreal also. Is this true?

Les F said...

I had heard the same things,from some of our membes on the old Verdun Connections site on MSN,.However that wasn't the case when we took lessons there. Maybe it was just a Y thing ?
-HF&RV----

Guy Billard said...

Yes it is true that you had to swim naked without a swim suit as I used to go there with my friends in the 40s and we swam without a swim suit. We had a swimming coach who also was naked, his name was scotty and he had a real scottish accent. It was embarassing at first but we got used to it and did not pay attention. Despite that, I was not witness to any wrongdoing, possibly because we where too innocent at that early age. Of course the girls wore a swimsuit and we did not swim at the same time.,
I was not aware that there was a Y on Wellington. I have heard that there was one on LaSalle but I have not seen any photos. I wonder if it is still there. It is also interesting to learn that the Y on Gordon was taken over by the french sector, I must do some research for our archives (SHGV)
Guy

Guy Billard said...

Les,
My guess is that the french sector kept the old building including the pool as as you can see from the old photo, that it was in imposing structure and could accommodate a certain number of students. Too bad that those old well built buildings had to be demolished. I will do some research on this.
Guy

Brian Gearey said...

Diane The Y was in crawford park on lasalle blvd near leclair ave Brian

Victor Coveduck said...

I remember the Y on Gordon from the late 40's! I used to buy temporary memberships and swim there in the late fall and in the Spring. I don't remember skinny dipping there. Around 1948 the Y stood alone in the fields north above Bannantyne Ave and we played 'touch football beside the Y. T'was about 1951 when we used to go to the Friday night dances, with a small but live band playing . I remember one evening when a trio of '4 Aces' impersonators sang with the band. (They sounded just like the 4 Aces) The downside was that there were so many 'wallflowers' (gals that just sat along the wall and refused to dance.) All dressed up and good looking too. My buddy and I did manage a few dances, but methinks the gals were waiting for older guys to ask them. Many were VHS gals who knew us and that could have had something to do with their refusing to dance with us. (They knew we were younger and too frisky) Ahh, those were the daze!!! Good memories never fade. Thanks Les! sez Vic

Guy Billard said...

I have checked the Lovell directory and here is what I found:
1924-1925:
YMCA
Verdun Branch
88 Church ave.
(this would be the one near Wellington)

1977:
YMCA
Verdun-LaSalle Branch
7105 LaSalle Blvd
(this would be the one near Leclair)

I will check out these addresses on my next trip to Verdun

Guy

Les F said...

Yes on the concordia archive site, they list 88 Church (I had seen that before) However they also have a photo of a pre-1930 building on Wellington
listed as Old Verdun Branch, Wellington St., before 1930.


There is also another photo around which I think shows that this building is indeed on Wellington Street & the archives show it as Welllington Street,.That is not to mean that the #88 Church Av, wasn't also a locarion at one time,but only another one.The same Concordia site shows all the address's in Verdun (that they have) but only 3 photo's of ymca buildings two of them Gordon Av & one on Wellington.....I also think the photo of the one on Wellington would have been between Gordon & Galt 4200 block it looks like to me....
Here is a Gordon Av photo:

and here is another view of Gordon Av location:

Les F said...

Here is the Concordia webaddress with plenty of info,......
http://archives3.concordia.ca/YMCA/default.html
I think we went thorigh most of this many years ago, but nevertheless here it is again...
As with most information it lends itself to questions of authenticity Lovell's as we have found out in the past is not a guarantee of accuracy,.as we saw with some previous searches where they pointed out that not all info was accurate .nor were people or business's required by law or anything else to volunteer their info...........Ahhh record keeping (as with wars & other history,is written by either the winners or just someone who has to fill in the blamks---or not).......lol
Have Fun and Remember Verdun

Les F said...

Here is a Gazette story from the paper Sept 3rd 1928, talking about the land just being purchased & plans for the new YMCA on Gordon Avenue,..with plans for outdoor activitues ,as well,just what Guy was mentioning playing hockey outside that building......
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S28tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KIwFAAAAIBAJ&dq=ymca%20verdun&pg=4164%2C224040
HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Les,
The Concordia University does not mention the first Y branch at 88 Church on their internet site. The one on Wellington was at 4241 Wellington as shown on the photo, between Galt and Gordon. It was no doubt on the second floor where the large windows are shown. They where there only a year or 2 before moving to Gordon in their new building.
I had contacted Concordia a couple of years ago when doing research on Dr Norman Bethune who had a clinic in the 30s at the Y on Gordon. Concordia inherited all the administation files but they where in storage until they had time to go through them.I hope eventually to go to the Concordia Library hoping to find Bethunes files. I want primalrily to confirm that Bethune did in fact have a clinic at the Y and any other information on the subject. I have now keeping in my favorites the Concordia site and thanks Les again for all that new information on the Y.
Guy

Guy Billard said...

I want to add that the the house and building addresses changed in the mid 20s from low numbers to high numbers no doubt due to the growing development in Verdun.
Guy

Les F said...

Ahh but Concordia does in fact 'list' 88 Church Avenue on their site,.it's just not listed in the same area as the list of the other Verdun sites..I won't bother to hi-light that spot on their site ,as I'm sure searching the site again will turn up the info, they just seem incinsistent ,by listing photos of the Y buildings ,and on a separate page of their site listing the addresses,which don't corelate with the photo's........but no big deal .we have concurred that the Y was at located at , at least 3 different Verdun spots (although I believe 88 Church,.makes it 4 locations) Church , Wellington, Gordon, and Lasalle Blvd................
Interesting the things we turn up when 'recherche'ing.........
.Compare these two photos (one of which I believe you Guy, had posted years ago)


Yours Guy I believe is this second shot,........or maybe it was another member who posted it, in anycase it certainly shows the very same building in question.......also Guy, I lived right across the street from this building,in a house directly above the 'Mt Royal Furniture Store' (later to become the 'Better Bargain Basement Store' .....later destroyed by fire & became the new home of Greenberg's which relocated from the Galt & Wellington corner,.to make room for the Metro......also a few other stores I could recall, & also a bunch of other families I grew up with , that lived on this block...However I digress from the topic..........................................................HF&RV

Les F said...

Branches (non-building)
Eastern: 244 St. Catherine East
Verdun: 88 Church Ave.
Cote St. Paul: 144 Hadley Street

You can find this info on the Concordia site by scrolling down on this link:
http://archives3.concordia.ca/Privatefonds/P145fa11.htm

Have Fun and Remember Verdun,...Cheers Everyone ,.......

Guy Billard said...

Les,
For some unknown reason, I thought that the Y building was across the street on the south side of Wellington but this new (old) photo that you posted includes the ND des Sept Douleurs church thus confirming its location. I am going to Verdun tomorrow saturday to Verdun as I am on duty at the SHGV and I will take a photo of the building, we will then see if there are any changes. Les, you are certainly a great help in my research on the history of Verdun.
Guy

Diane Roberts said...

Thanks Brian, now I remember! Used to go with a girlfriend Pat Duyns and she dated then married a guy called Reggie Wilkinson...great dancer and regular at the Y dances....Diane

Les F said...

the building seems to be gone ( at least the front facade with the large windows,looks like it's a Subway Shop now, I remember them building a restaurant there in the 60's,They called it New Verdun (not sure if it was related to the new verdun at 5th & Verdun, Originally the restaurant was right on the corner of Gordon & Wellington,it then moved to the middle of the block (which is where I think the old Y building once stood.I knew all the stores on that block ,as I lived right across the street ,a house long since demolished ,All the houses now replaced by a Pharmaprix.here is a link to that block btwn Gordon & Galt on Wellington:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4240+wellington+street+verdun&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=16.555077,36.650391&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4240+Rue+Wellington,+Verdun,+Communaut%C3%A9-Urbaine-de-Montr%C3%A9al,+Qu%C3%A9bec+H4G+1V9&ll=45.460462,-73.565826&spn=0,0.017896&z=15&layer=c&cbll=45.461419,-73.567141&panoid=PW2rFHbl4bKxB3_cvUCPrw&cbp=12,167.92,,0,5
HF&RV
we will look forward to seeing your photos Guy

Guy Billard said...

I took these photos this morning. According to Lovell's directory, there was a first

Guy Billard said...




I took these photos this morning. According to the Lovell's directory, there was a first YMCA at 88 Church wich would be the top photo but there is no no. 88, just no. 82. The building on the right has nos. 90-92-94-96 and 98. The building on the left looks like a new building while the one on the right with the arched backyard entrance looks very old but well kept and may date back to the 20s.
These buildings are situated on the western side of Church and between Wellington and LaSalle facing Edna street..
This would be an unlikely place for a Y unless the original building was demolished and replaced by the building on the left.. There is no mention of this local on the Concordia site. I will do more research on this.
As far as the second photo, no. 4241 Wellington still exhists and it seems obvious that it is the same original building wich was renovated over the years. The Y was situated there a short period of time in 1926-27-28 before moving to their new building at the end of 1928 or early in 1929 on Gordon Street. According to the 1928 Gazette article wich Les posted, the construction of the new Y was scheduled for the fall of 1928.
Guy

Les F said...

from where you took this photo of the old Sally Shops you would have been almost standing in my old doorway....Sally shops building was completely redone in the 60's to become Sally Shops I used to skateboard in their foyer because the granite floor was polished so smooth ,that it made for a great place to sail into on the old skateboard,until the cops made it illegal for any skateboarding period, However the location of the building in your photo I don't think is the old Y . The Subway franchise is where I think it really was, if you study the photo ( the old one I poset with the NDdL churcjh in it) you will see it was a little closer to that side of the block than the building you show in the picture. I will check & see if there are any of my family's old photos showing a shot across Wellington, HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Les,
It has to be the same building as the address is the same, 4241 Wellington and it is about the same height. What was your address acroos the street so that I can take a photo of your old home.
Guy

Les F said...

the old home is long gone Guy ,destroyed by fire ,then the wrecking ball took down the whole block,which once housed the Mount Royal Furniture Store, then a store called Better Bargain Basement.??/ then finally torn down along with an oil cloth store (linoleum) which was on the corner of Gordon & Wellington,.these all became the new home of Greenberg's which relocated from the diagonally opposite corner (Galt & Wellington) the Greenberg's store moved from Galt to Gordon & Wellington so they could build the Metro Station,.......also right beside my old house was Norman's PatatesFrites ,......if you look at the current Pharmaprix Store you can see a white column of bricks roughly 3 feet wide,that would have been my front door. I will see if I have any photos of the frontage in the 60's ,However we usually didn't waste to much film on our houses..........hahahah Thanks for the offer of taking a picture for me,though..I stood & watched the wrecking ball take the whole block down,

HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

A member of our society (SHGV) has now confirmed that the Y on Gordon was taken over by L'école secondaire Marguarita, a french high school. This was a perfect building for such use due to the excellent swimming pool and the quality of the building materials and workmanship of the era. As a mattter of fact I discovered that one of Ghislaine:s daughters went to that school and 2 of her daughters when going to Notre Dame du Sourire school school not far from there down the road at the corner of Champlain blvd would go to the pool along with the other students. It's a small world.
Guy

Les F said...

Hi Guy, according to the address on the building you took a photo of,it says 4243 ..The Subway Restaurant is listed as 4235,..so somewhere there are some address's missing,
The old Sally Shops is not the old Y ,from what I can see,
Check out this Goodle Streetview & zoom in on the address ,which is on the window of the old Sally Shops building shown in your photo,.you can read the address as 4243......?
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4241+wellington+st+verdun&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=16.555077,36.650391&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4241+Rue+Wellington,+Verdun,+Communaut%C3%A9-Urbaine-de-Montr%C3%A9al,+Qu%C3%A9bec+H4G+1V9&ll=45.460462,-73.557758&spn=0,0.034161&z=15&layer=c&cbll=45.461419,-73.567141&panoid=PW2rFHbl4bKxB3_cvUCPrw&cbp=12,239.92,,2,2.29

You can just use the wheel on your mouse to zoom in & isolate the address. HF&RV
ps: Use the Full Screen & the directional arrows to narrow down what your looking at,then zoom....

Guy Billard said...

Les,
I have personally saw the address of 4241 on the building so I am sure this is the one that contained the Y on the second floor in the 30s.
Guy

Les F said...

If you can & have the time to check it again maybe take a shot of the actual adress sign, as the address on the building is 4243 .?? Why I don't know, but I went over every available inch of address space & cannot see any other address on that old Sally Shops building,otherthan the one that apears on Google Street View,which is done in white numbering right on the window of the store.
Maybe our member Ken who lives around the corner on Gordon,can take a quick walk down there & have a look for a separate addres,that I don't see via Google. ........and I know when the other buildig were changed as I sat & watch them redo the front of the old Restauarant on a daily basis from my front gallery.Not saying that it was or wasn't the Y , Did you have a look on the link to Google Street View , just to see what I was referring to? Maybe looking up Sally Shops address via Lovell's may show what their address was in the 60's , The Sally Shops would have been there in the 66-67-68ish timeframe.because as of November 1st,1968 I moved to ville Lasalle .................Cheers HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Les,
OK, I will go back and take a phooto of the number on my next trip to Verdun.
Guy

Les F said...

Thanks Guy could you also take a shot of the address which seems to be immediately above the door in what looks like white numbers painted on the pane of glass above the black door frame,..Thanks
Are you on duty at SHGV everyweek, or periodically ? I will try to locate more old info too....HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Les,
I am on duty one saturday a month although I can go any time I want.. I used to go twice a month but I have cut down to one. I am not getting any younger. I do a lot of work for the society on my computer including making photos wich you guys contribute enormously. We have administration meetings about once every 2 months wich I attend regularly. As a membver for the past 7 years, I have not yet missed a meeting.
Guy

Les F said...

Your a busy guy Guy, & the efforts I'm sure are as appreciated at SHGV, as well as being appreciated here, Take your time we can wait & keep the mystery going for a bit........hahahah
Cheers !! HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Check out my album no. 21 as I have added several new photos of the Y.
Guy

Guy Billard said...

Les,
I want to add that I mention regularly at our meetings the enormous help I get from MVC as it is an unlimited source of information from ex Verdunites, some of whom have moved across Canada, the US, Hawaii and even Australia.
Guy