At the western end of Centre Street is an impressive sculpture in the middle of the roundabout. I really like this sculpture, titled “monument a la Pointe” by Gilles Mihalcean. The title of the work is a play on words, referring to Point St. Charles, but also the roundabout, called a rond-point in French.

The monument terminates the visual axis of Centre Street, and is an excellent visual cue for drivers leaving the autoroute 15 and entering Centre St. or St. Patrick St. An impressive 14 metres high, the sculpture is fun and full of visual allegories.

The sculpture is divided into three vertical strata. The lowest, green section is composed of three pilotis, similar in form to tree trunks. These trunks symbolize the Irish “roots” of the Pointe. The middle section is a brick mass, triangular in plan. The brick recalls the principal building material of the Pointe’s characteristic worker’s row housing. The triangular shape also recalls the hundreds of canal barges that passed by this spot on the canal, 100 metres to the north. The overall impression of the monument is that of an ocean liner. The triangular shape also forms an arrow that “points” down Centre St., the “central” street of Pointe St. Charles. The uppermost section of the monument recalls the numerous factory chimneys that dominated the neighbourhood in its heyday.

When visiting the monument, I recommend parking on Centre Street away from the roundabout. The monument is easily reached by foot by the pedestrian footbridge at the Atwater market, or from the Charlevoix metro station. Also of note, embedded in the pavement on Centre St. are train tracks that probably served the old Sherwin-Williams factory, just east of the monument.