Home to Montreal's Gay Village and to the Sainte-Marie area, the Centre-Sud has long been seen as one of the city's most complex and troubled neighbourhoods.[1]
Having held a notorious reputation for poverty and prostitution for decades, particularly on Rue Ontario and Rue Dufresne, gentrification has changed the neighbourhood considerably in recent years.[1][2][3][4]
Following the Lower Canada Rebellion, several patriots were hanged at the Pied-du-Courant Prison, a prison by the water. It ceased to be a prison in 1912, and the historic building was acquired by the SAQ in 1921, serving as its head office for a time.[5][6]
Construction of the Jacques Cartier Bridge began in 1925, and was opened to traffic on May 14, 1930, becoming a prominent landmark in the neighbourhood.[7]
Rue Dufresne, was notorious for prostitution and drug houses from the 1990s to 2010s[1][9]Mural on Rue Ontario, acknowledging the Centre-Sud's long held reputation for prostitution
An impoverished working class neighbourhood, the Centre-Sud began attracting members of the gay and lesbian community in the 1980s, due in part to affordability, after the migration of many gay businesses from other parts of the city. The area between St-Hubert and De Lorimier developed into the Gay Village by the 1990s as a result.
In 2001, a section of the neighbourhood known as l'îlot Huron, where the bunker and other illicit businesses thrived, was demolished to build a ramp to the Jacques Cartier Bridge and a large park, Parc des Faubourgs.[10][15]
Parc des Faubourgs, former site of the Rock Machine bunker
In recent years the neighbourhood has experienced significant gentrification and social change.[4][16]
The city also operates several indoor pools and arenas including the Aréna Camillien-Houde, Centre Jean-Claude-Malépart and Piscine Quintal.[25][26][27]
The neighbourhood is the subject of Richard Beaulieu’s Chroniques du Centre-Sud, a 2014 graphic novel portraying the neighbourhood in the 1990s.[30]
The novel Ces Spectres Agités by Louis Hamelin is also set in the Centre-Sud.[37]
In 2013, a group of collaborative authors and photographers, released Hôtel Jolicoeur. A novel, in a scrapbook format, about a former motel and brothel located in the heart of the Centre-Sud, on the corner of Ontario and Papineau.[13][38][39]
Other novels set in the Centre-Sud include the autobiographies Pute de Rue (2003) by Roxanne Nadeau[9] and L’Enfer d’une fille de rue (2020) by Isa-Belle St-Sauveur.[14]
The 2003 documentary, Sexe de rue, focuses on prostitution in the neighbourhood.
Atach Tatuq released a song about the Centre-Sud in 2005 entitled Australie in their final album Deluxxx.[40]
^"Jacques Cartier Bridge"(PDF). Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
^Fournier, Louis (1992). Louis Laberge : le syndicalisme, c'est ma vie (in French). Québec / Amérique. p. 418. ISBN2-89037-565-X.
^Débats reconstitués de l'assemblée législative : débats de 1923-1924,débats de 1926,débats de 1927. "À partir de cette époque, on le surnomme « le p'tit gars de Sainte-Marie », surnom qui lui restera".
