Perhaps you’ve noticed: the venerable Craig Station no longer sits where it has since the 19th century.
Article written by Gabriel Bellerose-Blais, C.I.EAU project manager (research) and facilitator.
In winter 2022, the C.I.EAU presented the exhibition “Mysteries of the Craig”, prepared by the Friends of Craig Station. Our visitors learned about the history and significance of this heritage station, including old and new photos, artifacts found on the site and 19th-century plans used in its construction. What happened to the building?
Planned as part of the neighborhood’s redevelopment (the Quartier des Faubourgs special urban planning program), the disappearance of Craig Station is, we hope, only temporary. All parts have been numbered and preserved, with the aim of rebuilding the building as identically as possible. The station would then be opened up to the public, away from the major roads that surround it. Let’s hope that the dismantling is just one stage in the project to create a Craig history and interpretation center, which the exhibition called for. Innovative and stimulating, this cultural mediation project is constantly gaining support. During this phase of the project to revitalize Craig Station, eleven interpretive panels were installed, reminding walkers of the station’s history and inviting them to imagine its future.
Visitors to the Mysteries of Craig exhibition discovered that the station’s basement still housed the old pumps used in the 19th century. What has become of this impressive industrial heritage since the station was dismantled? Despite the building’s demise, the basement, with its equipment and access to a heritage section of Montreal’s sewers, remains absolutely intact. The pumps, still in the same place for over a century, are waiting to be showcased in an interpretation center.
What other legacies of water management history should be protected?
Craig Station is an important witness to the history of water management, and C.I.EAU is committed to preserving its memory. Our museum, driven by its conservation mission, presents a collection of water management artifacts in its permanent exhibit to keep this heritage alive.