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TOUR DE LA BOURSE
La Tour de la Bourse (Stock Exchange Tower) is Montreal's third-tallest building, an International Style skyscraper by Luigi Moretti and Pier Luigi Nervi. Built in 1964, this 190-metre (623ft), 47-story building was the world's tallest reinforced concrete tower until the completion of Lake Point Tower in Chicago in 1968, and the tallest building in Canada until the completion of Toronto's Toronto-Dominion Centre in 1967. It is now the 13th-tallest building in Canada. It is located at 800 Square Victoria (45°30′2.20″N, 73°33′42.30″W), and is connected by the underground city to Square-Victoria metro station. The building's anchor tenant is still the Montreal Exchange on floors 3 and 4.
The original project, conceived during the Expo-era economic boom, called for three identical towers arrayed in a triangle. It was scaled back to a single tower, which today forms one half of the Place Victoria complex, along with the Hôtel Delta Centre-Ville. Following the improvement and restoration of Square Victoria to its original configuration in 2002, Place Victoria is now a centrepiece of the new Quartier International downtown area.
The tower itself is considered by many to be a masterpiece of the International style of skyscraper design. Its façade, fully renovated in 1995, features a bronze-tinted anodized aluminium curtain wall, forming a strong contrast with the slightly slanted pre-cast concrete columns at the four corners, giving the whole a subtly convex aspect. It is divided into three roughly equal blocks by mechanical floors whose corners are recessed in an octagonal shape, creating small open-air interstices behind the columns at these levels. One couple of Peregrine Falcons has been nesting inside the 32nd floor recess since 1984.
The building is managed by Magil Laurentian Realty Corporation. In August 2004 Jolina Capital, owned by Lino Saputo who is also head of foodmaker Saputo Foods, acquired a majority stake in the building. Property management is still handled by Magil Laurentian, who retains a minority stake.
Events
On February 13, 1969 the terrorist Front de libération du Québec set off a powerful bomb at the Stock Exchange, seriously injuring twenty-seven people.
On April 7, 2005 around 150 students occupied the ground floor of the building to block access to the elevators, as part of a strategy of economic disruption during the 2005 Quebec student strike. They were scattered by riot police two hours later; one arrest was made.
See also
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