Brassard, Raoul Adolphe

BRASSARD, Raoul Adolphe (1877-1927) was born in Sorel, Que. on 31 August 1877 and educated at the College in Sherbrooke. He served his apprenticeship in a Montreal from 1895 until 1900 with Louis Z. Gauthier, one of the leading ecclesiastical architects in Quebec in the late 19th century, and was elected as a member of the Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects in February 1900. In 1901 Brassard joined the Quebec provincial Department of Public Works with a particular interest in the design of institutional buildings and prison architecture, a subject which he studied in detail during a lengthy European trip in 1904. The knowledge he gathered proved useful in 1907 when he was called upon to assist Marchand & Haskell with their plans for the Bordeaux Prison. As an officer of the 65th Regiment he served as the architect for their Armoury Building in Montreal. Few references to his work can be found after 1914, and by 1921 he had accepted the appointment of Secretary of the Montreal Tramways Commission, a position he held until his death in Montreal on 15 September 1927 (obituaries in Le Devoir [Montreal], 16 Sept. 1927, 2; Montreal Daily Star, 17 Sept. 1927, 8; obit Gazette [Montreal], 17 Sept. 1927, 5; La Presse [Montreal], 16 Sept. 1927, 23; biography in La Presse [Montreal], 8 Feb. 1908, 25). His son Paul G. Brassard later became an architect in Montreal after 1945.

R.A, BRASSARD (works in Montreal unless noted)

PALAIS DE JUSTICE, St. James Street at St. Gabriel Street, major addition and alterations to the existing Court House, 1903-05 (Montreal Daily Star, 8 July 1905,, 24, detailed descrip.; La Presse [Montreal], 28 Oct. 1905, 5 & 6, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at ANQM, Item No. 1962)
(with J.W. Gregoire) SHERBROOKE, QUE., St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, Conseil Street, 1907-08 (La Presse [Montreal], 8 Feb. 1908, 25, descrip.)
(with Marchand & Haskell) BORDEAUX PRISON, Gouin Boulevard East near Poincare Street, 1909-10; B Wing, 1930 (La Presse [Montreal], 9 Aug. 1907, 1 & 9, illus. & descrip.; and 10 Aug. 1907, 5 & 22, illus.; C.R., xliv, 17 Sept. 1930, 53; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 238-43, illus.)
65TH REGIMENT ARMOURY, Pine Avenue at Sanguinet Street, 1908-09 (La Presse [Montreal], 12 Dec. 1908, 9, illus. & descrip.; and 6 Nov. 1909, 9, illus.)
JACQUES CARTIER NORMAL SCHOOL on Parc Fontaine, major addition and annex, 1909 (Montreal Daily Star, 19 April 1909, 10, t.c.)
STE. CATHERINE, QUE. (Portneuf Co.), Roman Catholic church, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 1 June 1910, 25)
MOUNT ROYAL AVENUE EAST, at Garnier Street, retail store for W. Ulderic Boivin, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 29 June 1910, 26)
ST. CROIX ACADEMY, for the Brothers of the Holy Cross, Ryan Avenue, 1911 (La Presse [Montreal], 20 May 1911, 31, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxv, 1 Nov. 1911, 59)
PALAIS BUILDING, Notre Dame Street at St. Vincent Street, 1911 (La Presse [Montreal], 5 Aug. 1911, 28, illus.)
RYAN AVENUE, residence for the Brothers of the Holy Cross, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 1 Nov. 1911, 59)
MONTREAL EAST, Roman Catholic church, Laurendeau Avenue at Dorchester Street East, 1913-14 (La Presse [Montreal], 28 Nov. 1913, 8, illus.)
(attributed) OUTREMONT, residence for J.A. Goyer, Epee Avenue, 1921 (Outremont b.p. 1427, 25 Oct. 1921, building permit signed by architect 'P.A. Brossard' [sic])

COMPETITIONS

HULL, QUE., City Hall, 1901. R.A. Brassard was one of seven architects who submitted designs for this public building (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 16 May 1901, 9). The competition was later won by Charles Brodeur of Hull, Que.