Mail Saint-Roch was opened in response to the great need to revitalize the Saint-Roch district, which had lost its 1950s appeal. A first attempt was made in 1968 with the open-air mall that transformed part of Saint-Joseph Street into a commercial area. Despite this, residents continued to leave Saint-Roch for the suburbs.

1974 - 2012

Decline and revitalization of the downtown Saint-Roch district

The Saint-Roch district in downtown Québec City faced the same destiny as many other North American urban centres. At the end of the 1960s, the commercial artery in the Saint-Roch district gradually emptied as new shopping centres sprung up in the suburbs. To counter the decline of this downtown area, an open-air mall, the Mail Saint-Roch, was inaugurated in 1968 on Saint-Joseph Street. In 1974, more than a kilometre of the mall was covered with a roof. However, popular preference for suburban shopping soon made the area obsolete. In the 1990s and 2000s, a new effort of innovative architectural and social initiatives was made to revitalize this neglected downtown area.

Inauguration ceremony for the Mail Saint-Roch shopping centre

Auteur inconnu Mail Saint-Roch was opened in response to the great need to revitalize the Saint-Roch district, which had lost its 1950s appeal. A first attempt was made in 1968 with the open-air mall that transformed part of Saint-Joseph Street into a commercial area. Despite this, residents continued to leave Saint-Roch for the suburbs.

Chronoscope Can you name any of the people in this photo? (unilingual French for a limited time)

Depicted period: 1974

OPEN