henri-bourassa (montreal metro)

Henri-Bourassa is a station on the Montreal Metro, the eastern terminus of the Orange Line, located in the Ahuntsic district in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. It was inaugurated on October 14, 1966, as part of the original network of the metro. The original part of the metro station, designed by J. Warunkiewicz, is a normal side-platform station, connected by a transept and a long tunnel to a mezzanine some distance away. This in turn gives access to the station's entrance on boul. Henri-Bourassa, integrated into a government building, and the STM and STL's bus terminals. A second access, closer to the station's platforms on rue Berri, was added later. It was designed by Andr Lonard and Claude Leclerc. A large addition to the station is under construction as part of the extension to Laval. A diversion from the main tunnel and a third platform are being added. This will allow some trains to end their run at Henri-Bourassa (using the existing platform) and others to continue to Laval (using the new platform). The station includes several artworks. A collective work by 330 Montreal children, entitled Les enfants dans la ville ("children in the city"), is found in the mezzanine; composed of moulded concrete blocks, it depicts scenes of parks, houses, play, and transportation. In the Henri-Bourassa Nord entrance, a mural relief by Jacques Huet entitled Rveil de la conscience par la solitude ("awakening of consciousness by solitude") forms a firewall between the entrance and the adjacent government office. In the new rue Berri entrance, the architect Andr Lonard created two terra cotta reliefs entitled Le potager ("the vegetable garden") and Le vent ("the wind").

Origin of the name

This station is named for boul. Henri-Bourassa. Henri Bourassa (1868–1952), a journalist and politician, served in municipal, provincial, and federal governments, but is best known for founding the newspaper Le Devoir in 1910.