Life, the city | The Morgan bath regains its luster

Our journalist wanders around Greater Montreal to talk about people, events and places that make the heart of their neighbourhood beat.

There was a time when people went there to wash. Today, it is an indoor swimming pool, in a sumptuous building with Roman allure, which has just regained its former glory.

After several months of renovation work, the Morgan bath will be able to welcome bathers again at the end of the summer season. Last spring, we had the chance to visit the construction site – and corners of the building inaugurated in 1916 – with Emmanuelle Thibodeau, property manager for the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and responsible for the work.

The façade needed to be restored, but it was especially at the level of the forecourt that major restoration work was needed. “Vegetation was starting to grow through the steps,” she relates. “It had become a safety issue.”

The stones of the forecourt were removed and numbered one by one, before being repaired in the workshop.

Originally designed in the spirit of Roman thermal baths, the Morgan bath is in the Beaux-Arts style.

For the property manager, who took over from her colleague Céline Linard De Guertechin, it was a challenge to preserve the heritage of the former public bath, in collaboration with the Beaupré Michaud firm. “Each intervention had its share of calculated decisions to alter each of the original components as little as possible,” she explains. “We collaborated preciously with the heritage division of the city center.”

A little history

In 1916, the Morgan bath was called the Maisonneuve bath and it was part of the large city of Maisonneuve which, riddled with debt, was annexed to the city of Montreal two years later.

“The Dufresnes were visionaries, but not accountants,” jokes Julie Bellemarre, research agent for the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

The latter speaks of the brothers Marius and Oscar Dufresne, whose former semi-detached houses have become a museum, the Château Dufresne.^⁠1Inspired by the City Beautiful movement, they participated, with the mayor of the time, Alexandre Michaud, in the construction of the city hall of the city of Maisonneuve – where the Maisonneuve library is today – and that of the Létourneux barracks, which became the Nutrilait Center, where CF Montréal trains.

“With ideas of grandeur and a model city, they had several prestigious buildings built,” emphasizes Olivier Dufresne, who has no family connection with Marius and Oscar, but who is director of the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve History Workshop, whose premises are on the upper floor of the Morgan bath.

Engineer Marius Dufresne drew inspiration from the Champs-Élysées to design the Pie-IX Boulevard and Morgan Avenue. He also designed the plans for Maisonneuve Park and Market, as well as the Morgan Baths.

The construction of the Morgan baths was part of a “hygiene movement” which aimed to counter public health problems by providing populations in working-class neighborhoods with sanitary facilities, recalls Olivier Dufresne.

After being a public bath, the building at 1875 Morgan Avenue was the home of the Montreal Police Academy until 1960. It was then that it took the name Morgan Bath and became a swimming pool.

Always free access

After the start of the school year, the Morgan baths will reopen, as usual, when the outdoor swimming pools close.

Other work that has taken place in recent months includes waterproofing the foundation, as well as repairing and cleaning the façade and masonry.

Inside, the swimming pool has not been touched, so it retains its charm. vintage.

When we visited, there were even towels still hanging on hooks in the changing rooms!

Otherwise, significant improvements have been made to the heating system. “By electrifying the boiler room, we reduced the building’s carbon footprint by 80%,” says Emmanuelle Thibodeau.

As an anecdote, the discovery of a pipe revealed that the Morgan bath once heated the Maisonneuve market.

Emmanuelle Thibodeau also draws our attention to the new, elegant and discreet lighting of the Morgan bath, which highlights its colonnades and forecourt in the evening. The subdued lighting is similar to that of the Maisonneuve library “with a shade that blends with the stone,” she emphasizes.

Finally, note that the Morgan Park chalet has also just been restored. Originally built in 1931, it is also part of the Ancienne-Cité-de-Maisonneuve heritage site.

1. Check out our article on the current exhibition at Château Dufresne^⁠

Visit the Morgan bath website