The main aim of the Îlot Fleurie project was to bring some colour back into the Saint-Roch district. This was achieved through horticultural landscaping and frescoes painted by local residents. Six artists, including Christian Basquin and Marie-France Dion, began work on the wall overlooking the La Grande Place project’s abandoned lot. They painted over the graffiti that used to be there.

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.

Murals at the Îlot Fleurie

Jean Vallières The main aim of the Îlot Fleurie project was to bring some colour back into the Saint-Roch district. This was achieved through horticultural landscaping and frescoes painted by local residents. Six artists, including Christian Basquin and Marie-France Dion, began work on the wall overlooking the La Grande Place project’s abandoned lot. They painted over the graffiti that used to be there.

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Depicted period: 1991

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