Ted
04-07-2008, 12:46 PM
More than a decade ago I took my first great motorcycle trip, up through New England, out to Meat Cove, Nove Scotia, PEI, and back through Quebec City and Montreal to Maine. In Quebec City I took this photo (actually a nice young woman took it with my camera):
http://verrill.com/tripreports/canada96/canad33.jpg
I always loved that photo, and late last year when I was on business in Quebec City I tried to "refind" the location. After a bit of searching I succeeded and located that very cool building, the Quebec City Armory, and took a bunch more photos including close-ups of the exquisite stonework.
Yesterday I saw this very sad news (VIDEO (http://www.necn.com/Boston/World/Historic-Armory-in-Quebec-city-collapses-after-fire/1207412984.html)):
http://www.foxnews.com/images/361057/0_61_040508_fire1.jpg
QUEBEC CITY (The Canadian Press) — A Canadian landmark was in ruins early this morning after flames tore through Quebec City’s historic armoury.
Witnesses told the Globe and Mail the fire, followed by a major explosion, broke out at the armoury around 9:30 p.m. Friday night. No injuries are reported.
Much of the building, which was built in 1884, collapsed less than two hours after the fire started, leaving only the brick wall and the two towers visible at the main entrance.
The armoury was home to Les Voltigeurs, a Canadian Forces reserve unit and the oldest French infantry regiment in the country. The armoury, which was under renovation, housed First and Second World War memorabilia, and artifacts of the Louis Riel uprising in western Canada.
Military officers say some of the building might be saved, and some artifacts were rescued.
The armoury had been scheduled to play host to events for Quebec City’s 400th anniversary this year.
Sylvain Rousseau, head of operations with the Quebec City fire department, said that when firefighters arrived, they noticed thick smoke and there had been a major explosion.
However, Rousseau said, the flames spread rapidly through the old wood of the ceiling and across the building and it was too dangerous for firefighters to go inside.
“It went very fast, no sooner had the first team of firefighters arrived than they saw thick smoke coming out of the roof of the building,’’ he said. “In the time it took to set up the hoses to fight the fire, within a few minutes, the flames spread through the whole building.’’ The ceiling collapsed at about 10 p.m.
The building was famous for its suspended wood ceiling, the largest in Canada.
“I’m heartbroken (at) the loss of such a historic building,’’ Captain Daniel Duguay of the Voltigeurs said as he watched the destruction.
Captain Paul Sacca, media relations officer with the Canadian Forces, confirmed that no military activities were taking place inside the building Friday.
He added that firefighters were doing their best to save the regimental museum at the east end of the building and the officers’ mess hall at the western end.
“Our (country’s) soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan,’’ he said. “They’ve fought many battles for other people in the past. We will come out of this disaster and we will rebuild this building, which is a major historical, cultural and military monument to our past.’’
General Christian Barnabe, who is in charge of Canadian Forces Quebec land unit, watched the firefighters trying to stop the destruction of the building where he trained as a Voltigeur in his youth.
It is indeed a sad end to a magnificent piece of history.
http://verrill.com/tripreports/canada96/canad33.jpg
I always loved that photo, and late last year when I was on business in Quebec City I tried to "refind" the location. After a bit of searching I succeeded and located that very cool building, the Quebec City Armory, and took a bunch more photos including close-ups of the exquisite stonework.
Yesterday I saw this very sad news (VIDEO (http://www.necn.com/Boston/World/Historic-Armory-in-Quebec-city-collapses-after-fire/1207412984.html)):
http://www.foxnews.com/images/361057/0_61_040508_fire1.jpg
QUEBEC CITY (The Canadian Press) — A Canadian landmark was in ruins early this morning after flames tore through Quebec City’s historic armoury.
Witnesses told the Globe and Mail the fire, followed by a major explosion, broke out at the armoury around 9:30 p.m. Friday night. No injuries are reported.
Much of the building, which was built in 1884, collapsed less than two hours after the fire started, leaving only the brick wall and the two towers visible at the main entrance.
The armoury was home to Les Voltigeurs, a Canadian Forces reserve unit and the oldest French infantry regiment in the country. The armoury, which was under renovation, housed First and Second World War memorabilia, and artifacts of the Louis Riel uprising in western Canada.
Military officers say some of the building might be saved, and some artifacts were rescued.
The armoury had been scheduled to play host to events for Quebec City’s 400th anniversary this year.
Sylvain Rousseau, head of operations with the Quebec City fire department, said that when firefighters arrived, they noticed thick smoke and there had been a major explosion.
However, Rousseau said, the flames spread rapidly through the old wood of the ceiling and across the building and it was too dangerous for firefighters to go inside.
“It went very fast, no sooner had the first team of firefighters arrived than they saw thick smoke coming out of the roof of the building,’’ he said. “In the time it took to set up the hoses to fight the fire, within a few minutes, the flames spread through the whole building.’’ The ceiling collapsed at about 10 p.m.
The building was famous for its suspended wood ceiling, the largest in Canada.
“I’m heartbroken (at) the loss of such a historic building,’’ Captain Daniel Duguay of the Voltigeurs said as he watched the destruction.
Captain Paul Sacca, media relations officer with the Canadian Forces, confirmed that no military activities were taking place inside the building Friday.
He added that firefighters were doing their best to save the regimental museum at the east end of the building and the officers’ mess hall at the western end.
“Our (country’s) soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan,’’ he said. “They’ve fought many battles for other people in the past. We will come out of this disaster and we will rebuild this building, which is a major historical, cultural and military monument to our past.’’
General Christian Barnabe, who is in charge of Canadian Forces Quebec land unit, watched the firefighters trying to stop the destruction of the building where he trained as a Voltigeur in his youth.
It is indeed a sad end to a magnificent piece of history.