Montreal's Old Royal Victoria Hospital Would Become Public Space Under A Proposal (VIDEO)

Montreal's old Royal Victoria Hospital sits largely abandoned between the downtown and Mount Royal park.

As officials figure out what to do with much of the former hospital campus (some buildings will become part of McGill University), non-profit groups Héritage Montréal and Les amis de la montagne say the site presents an opportunity to reconnect the downtown core with the mountain and expand the public realm.

Pour une requalification exemplaire de l'ancien hôpital Royal Victoriawww.youtube.com

The groups released a video in September calling for "visionary," "courageous," and "bold" planning for the site, including new public green and gathering spaces.

Under their proposal, the groups say the old Royal Victoria Hospital would become a "gateway to Mount Royal park from downtown [...] connected, open to all, and equipped with a reception area, local services, meeting places and community spaces."

Héritage Montréal and Les amis de la montage specifically call for:

• "the urgent restoration of the buildings in order to avoid any further deterioration due to the vacancy of the place;
• "landscaping and greening actions that allow better access to the mountain as an extension of Mount Royal park towards downtown;
• "the maintenance of public ownership of the land in order to avoid the fragmentation of the site and to ensure its coherence in the short, medium and long term, in a context of multiple occupants;"
• and the implementation of modern urban planning, governance and financing tools to preserve the integrity of the site, its heritage character and its civic and community vocation."