This image captures the dichotomy of the Saint-Roch district. Old and modern stood side by side, offering a striking perspective. The Saint-Roch Gardens were part of the city’s revitalization strategy to beautify the neighbourhood and improve quality of life there. Several buildings in the vicinity had been demolished for the La Grande Place project.

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.

The Saint-Roch Gardens in the heart of a neighbourhood being demolished

Jean-Marie Villeneuve This image captures the dichotomy of the Saint-Roch district. Old and modern stood side by side, offering a striking perspective. The Saint-Roch Gardens were part of the city’s revitalization strategy to beautify the neighbourhood and improve quality of life there. Several buildings in the vicinity had been demolished for the La Grande Place project.

Chronoscope Have you ever attended a show in this park? (unilingual French for a limited time)

Depicted period: 1994

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