At the beginning of the 20th century, civic leaders wanted to transform this industrial center into a model city with broad boulevards, grandiose public buildings, and fine homes. World War I and the Depression killed those plans, but a few fine fragments of the grand dream survive, just three blocks south of the Olympic site. The magnificent beaux-arts public market, which has a 20-foot-tall bronze statue of a farm woman, stands at the northern end of tree-lined avenue Morgan. Farmers and butchers have moved into a modern building next door; the old market is now a community center and the site of summer shows and concerts. Monumental staircases and a heroic rooftop sculpture embellish the public baths across the street. The Théâtre Denise Pelletier, at the corner of rue Ste-Catherine Est and rue Morgan, has a lavish Italianate interior; Fire Station No. 1, at 4300 rue Notre-Dame Est, was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in suburban Chicago; and the sumptuously decorated Église Très-Saint-Nom-de-Jésus has one of the most powerful organs in North America. The 60-acre Parc Maisonneuve, stretching north of the botanical garden, is a lovely place for a stroll.
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