{"id":1001245,"date":"2014-05-18T15:44:29","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T13:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress4.local\/2014\/05\/18\/wellington-direction-tower-at-the-crossroads-of-time\/"},"modified":"2020-07-08T01:25:19","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T23:25:19","slug":"wellington-direction-tower-at-the-crossroads-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prevel.ca\/en\/blog\/wellington-direction-tower-crossroads-time","title":{"rendered":"Wellington Direction Tower: At the Crossroads of Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You may have noticed her in passing. She seems a bit lonely and abandoned, right next to the bike path on the Lachine Canal, it\u2019s located between Peel basin and Smith street. The Wellington Tower is undoubtedly part of the industrial landscape and heritage of Griffintown<\/a>, but does anyone know where it came from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wellington Tower was built back in 1943, right in the thick of the Second World War. Its purpose was to ensure the efficient movement of goods from the factories to the network of roads, railways and waterways connecting Montr\u00e9al. It was here that the roads and rails of the Lachine Canal crossed paths, from the city to the Port of Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, a study by the heritage division of the City of Montr\u00e9al identified the tower as an exceptional heritage site. The study recognized the tower as a central element of this rich and complex site, where you\u2019ll find the remains of an old drawbridge built in 1912 by the Grand Trunk rail company, the two abandoned Wellington tunnels and another bridge that\u2019s still in use today (it was a drawbridge until 1966). The study also recognized the architectural significance of the building, which has a bunker style, something that\u2019s pretty rare. It was the only direction tower used to control both a bridge and railway routes still standing in all of North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n