McLennan Library Building

Entrance to the Redpath Library Building, which together with the McLennan Library Building, makes up the Humanities and Social Sciences complex
The McLennan Library Building, seen from Sherbrooke Street

The McLennan Library Building of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is situated at the northeast corner of Sherbrooke Street and McTavish Street. The building, along with the Redpath Library Building currently houses the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, the largest branch of the McGill University Library.

History

Dilcoosha, 1913

The McLennan Library Building stands on the site of Jesse Joseph's former mansion, Dilcoosha, meaning "the Heart's Delight" in Hindustani. Joseph, a prominent Montreal businessman, philanthropist and member of the city's Jewish community, died in 1904. Once a Canadian Officers' Training Corps headquarters during World War I and after the home of the McCord Museum, the mansion was demolished in 1955.[1][2]

The current seven-storey reinforced concrete structure was built between 1967 and 1969 and designed by the firm Dobush, Stewart and Bourke, who also designed McGill's Stewart Biological Sciences and Ernest Rutherford Physics Buildings, and worked on design for the city's Cadillac Metro station. The exterior consist of identical precast concrete panels that are attached to a reinforced concrete frame. It is attached to the more modern Redpath library extension by a bridge walkway. The main entrance to McLennan library is now at the south end of the concrete terraced due to the Redpath library entrance being closed after the terrace renovations ended in January 2014, due to a lack of funding by McGill's administration.[3] All traffic between floors is controlled by the central stairwell and elevator core. The sixth floor houses the McGill University Archives and the fourth floor is dedicated to McGill Rare Books and Special Collections.

The library building was named in honour of Isabella McLennan, who had made a large donation to McGill in order to purchase books.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  2. ↑ "Joseph House "Dilcoosha"". Virtual McGill. McGill University. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  3. ↑ "McLennan-Redpath Terraces project". McGill website. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "McLennan Library Building". Virtual McGill. McGill University. Retrieved 2009-10-29.

Coordinates: 45°30′12″N 73°34′34″W / 45.5033°N 73.5760°W / 45.5033; -73.5760


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