Montreal in 19 neighbourhoods: A series NEWMAN BLVD.
HOME TO THE LACHINE RAPIDS: Even though they’re called the Lachine Rapids, these rushing waters are actually located in LaSalle. The borough that got its name from René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, the French explorer who was intent on finding a route to
1. École secondaire Cavelier-De LaSalle
A French-language high school known as one of the top in the field of entertainment (namely song and dance), its Fondation Cavelier-De LaSalle was founded in 1995 to help support the school and its students in various endeavours. The foundation became a charitable organization in 2013.
2. Labatt Brasserie
Labatt has been part of the country’s brewing history for the past 170 years, ever since its founder, John Kinder Labatt, decided to dedicate himself to what he referred to as his “lifelong calling” in 1847, in London, Ont. In the late 1850s, the opening of the Great Western Railway allowed him to start selling his beer in Toronto, Montreal and the Maritimes. Labatt acquired the 29-acre site in LaSalle in 1952, and began work on La Brasserie Labatt Limitée in 1954. It’s now located on a street that bears its name.
3. LaSalle CLSC/CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
Part of the Integrated University Health and Social Services Centres network, CLSCs provide basic health and social services like blood tests, vaccinations and emergency contraception, as well as specialized medical services, rehabilitation and reintegration services (like the collection of used syringes and the distribution of new ones).
4. Carrefour Angrignon
Built in 1986, Carrefour Angrignon originally opened with a Sears, Maxi, Zellers, Eaton’s and Pascal’s. Pascal’s became a car lot in 1991, before being transformed into a movie theatre dubbed Ciné Entreprise. In 1995, Famous Players and Future Shop took over the space, which is now owned and operated by Cineplex. The Eaton’s store closed in 1998. Of the five original anchors, only two remain: Sears and Maxi.
5. Viola-Desmond St.
Located on a redeveloped piece of land between the boroughs of LaSalle and Verdun, Viola-Desmond St. is named after a black female activist who was arrested for refusing to sit in the section of a movie theatre reserved for “non-whites” in 1946. Originally from Nova Scotia, Desmond moved to Montreal, where she taught at two schools and began studying at the Field Beauty Culture School, one of the few of its kind in Canada that accepted black applicants. In 2018, Viola Desmond will become the first Canadian woman featured, by herself, on the face of a monetary bill. (Agnes Macphail’s face graces the current $10 bill, but in the company of three men: Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, and James Gladstone.)
6. Buffet Vichy
Buffet Vichy has been attracting a variety of customers (including hungry, price-conscious students) since 1990, when it opened its first location in LaSalle. Generally acknowledged to be one of the best (and most generous) all-you-can eat buffets in the city, the menu offers more than 100 choices, including seafood, roasts, smoked meat, pasta, pizza, salads and dessert.