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A large gallery, 37 feet deep and the full width of the building, was constructed at the rear of the drill hall which fronted on Vitre Street. Smaller galleries, 7 feet wide, were constructed along the full length of the building on each side, giving entrance to the orderly and recreation rooms of the various militia units. All of the galleries were equipped with iron railings, supported by rolled girders with wrought brackets. The cost of the armoury wings was about $100,000, with the drill hall itself costing an additional $125,000. Total cost of the whole building, with fixtures, etc. was about $300,000. Captain J. Bté. Emond was appointed caretaker and he represented the government during construction until such time as the building was occupied by staff officers of the 5th and 6th Military Districts.
drill hall and gun shed for the Montreal Artillery, but by the following year it was being used as a jail, ending the site’s 97-year association with the Montreal militia force. It was finally torn down in 1971 to make room for the Ville Marie Expressway. However, its massive stone Canadian coat- of-arms (from the 1939-40 facelift) can now be seen in the park next to the museum at the Longue-Pointe Garrison, off Hochelaga Street.
The new Craig Street Drill Hall, 1895. This image clearly shows the two-story wing apartments (McCord Museum).
Construction of the new building started in May 1885, and it took three years to complete. The Montreal volunteers, including the 5th Royals (then known as the 5th Battalion, Royal Scots of Canada) finally moved into their new quarters in the Spring of 1888. The 5th Royals occupied their west wing apartments in the new Drill Hall for eighteen years, from 1888 to 1906. Added to the three years they spent in the old Drill Hall, they occupied quarters on Craig Street for a total of twenty-one years, broken down over two periods: 1869-1872, and 1888-1906. The building was still in use as a drill hall during World War One, but by this time, many of the Montreal militia regiments had built their own armouries, many at their own expense, and had moved out. In 1939-40 the drill hall was largely rebuilt and given a structural steel frame.7 As late as 1965, the building was still is use as a
1 The militia also ran into problems with the Market Committee who were responsible for the overall operation of the Market. By 1887, rumours were rampant that the Market Committee wanted to toss the militia out into the street.
2 Jackie Adell, “The Structural Design of the Early Drill Shed in Canada,” SSAC Bulletin, 1991, vol 16, Issue 2, 40-51 (hereafter,
Adell). For a section view of the structure, dated 16 February 1870, see Library & Archives Canada, RG9, 11B2, vol. 30.
3 Interestingly, the commissioners supported the change to double tie rods, considering them “really necessary for the stability of the building.” Montreal Gazette, 20 August 1868, “Report on the Commissioners.”
4 Montreal Gazette, 28 September 1991 – Edgar Andrew Collard, “All Our Yesterdays.”
5 Montreal Gazette, 28 September 1991 – Edgar Andrew Collard, “All Our Yesterdays.”
6 Adell, 51.
7 Department of Public Works, 1940, 24; 1941, 25.
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