Zénon Alary Museum

1425 Claude-Grégoire Street

The Marist Brothers were responsible for teaching in a new school for boys that opened in 1935. The institution was named Saint-Jean-Baptiste in memory of the founder of the Rolland Paper Mill. Its mission was to provide business and agricultural training.

A fire completely destroyed the building on July 14, 1950. A second school was built on the same site based on the plans of the architect Napoléon Beauchamp. After the departure of the Marist Brothers in 1972, the Municipality of Mont-Rolland purchased the old school for use as the City Hall. This allowed the city to consolidate various services, including the public library.

When Mont-Rolland and Sainte-Adèle merged in 1997, the new city confirmed the 1993 decision to allocate space to Simone Constantineau, allowing her to fulfill her dream of finding a new location for the Zénon Alary Museum.

Credit:
Hôtel de ville de Mont-Rolland, date inconnue
Société d’histoire de la Rivière-du-Nord
Fonds Journal des Pays-d’en-Haut

Zénon Alary was born in Saint-Sauveur in 1894. Even as a child, he was continually carving pieces of wood he found. During the Great Depression, he lost his job as a stone sculptor and moved to Sainte-Adèle with his wife. He would set up in front of the Sainte-Adèle train station to sell paintings and jewelry in the shape of small birds. He died in 1974.

Open mainly on Saturdays and Sundays, the museum brings together more than 250 sculptures inspired by Canadian wildlife and scenery.