Crystal Palace (Montreal)
The Crystal Palace was an
Construction
The building was designed by
1860 Industrial Exhibition
The Industrial Exhibition displayed agricultural and industrial products from the then
Skating rink
The large open space of the exhibition hall was suitable for other uses. In later years, the hall would house a natural ice skating rink in the winter, and was one of the first indoor skating rinks in Canada. The skating rink was used by McGill University students to play ice hockey and the rink is the site of the first known photograph of ice hockey players in hockey uniforms, taken in 1881.
The rink also housed the Crystal Skating Club and Crystal Hockey Club, more commonly known as the Montreal Crystals which played men's senior-level amateur hockey in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada.
Relocation and fire
In 1878 it was dismantled and moved to Fletcher's Field, part of which is now known as Jeanne-Mance Park. In July 1896, the Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire, as London's original Crystal Palace would be 40 years later in 1936.[2][3] The site of the Crystal Palace, between Mont-Royal Avenue and Saint-Joseph Boulevard, was developed for housing a few years after the fire.
The original downtown location later was home to the Palace Theatre, a movie house, and today contains an alley named Ruelle Palace.
References
- ISSN 0228-0744. Archived from the original(PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
- ^ Goldman, Norman. "Montréal's Eighth Wonder of the World". BootsnAll:The Ultimate Source for the Independent Traveller. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-02-19..
- ^ Gazette article, "Flames devoured one of the city's most glittering landmarks"
External links
See photographs at the McCord Museum website: