Page 37 - A_View_Of_Their_Own_the_Story_of_Westmount

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"We're trying to be as honest as possible to the
original but we're dealing with a functional library,
not a historic monument," says steering committee
chairman Raymond Ullyatt. Some license has been
taken in order to improve and update.
Sunlight streams through the newly-uncovered
leaded windows that, until now, were partially
covered by a mezzanine in the south reading room.
In being exposed, one was found to reach from the
floor to the 18-foot ceiling. In the lobby, a large
supporting pole has disappeared from the centre.
"It was ugly as sin," says Mayor Peter Trent who
spearheaded much of the restoration work.
His attention to detail and quest for "perma-
nence, solidity and sobriety" sometimes clashed
with the views of the architects, he admits, but were
usually supported by council. He personally chose
the more than 50 tulip-shaded chandeliers, found
the leather reading.chairs in Ogilvy's and
"agonized" over numerous other details.
"There's a history behind every decision," he
says.
While a large part of the restoration work
involved interior design and decor, several exterior
modifications make fundamental changes to the
entrance and roofline.
A 1924 connection between the roof of the
main 1899 building and the 1911 children's
pavilion has been stripped to restore the appearance
of two separate pavilions. Now the tall Queen Anne-
like chimney has been exposed as well as five large
windows in the west side of the roof above the
central lobby. Demolition of the connector yielded
another bonus: a portion of the original roof slates
still intact, evidently untouched when the rest of the
roof was reshingled in asphalt. "This enabled us to
match the new ones," he explains. "Probably they
came from the same Vermont quarry."
THE SLATE ROOF
"I insisted on a slate roof, " Mr. Trent says. "It's
the tiara of the library. Though some people asked if
we really needed slate, my point is this: asphalt
shingles last one quarter as long, are one-tenth the
price, and look it. To restore the most important
building in the city and not use slate, is like crown-
ing a queen in costume jewelry."
Pausing a moment, he grins, "I would have
resigned over it."
As the slates went up, the building took on a
new visibility from Sherbrooke Street. The thin slabs
of stone measure 8 x 16 inches and can be used
only on buildings able to withstand their weight.
Each is fastened in overlapping fashion by two large-
headed copper nails that can be removed to replace
a damaged slate.
Lead-coated copper flashing, the colour of
stainless steel, replaces the original copper. It dulls
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