Memories
Who remembers taking the 17 streetcar through Snowdon Junction, past Garland Terminus, up over the train tracks and down the other side at Jean Talon before the Decarie Expressway was built? We then bypassed the entrance to Blue Bonnets, FDR, the Bonfire, The Orange Julep, Miss Montreal, and Piazza Tomasso. Continuing North alongside what was then known as Laurentian Blvd, past Canadair and the Astor Swimming Pool. Eventually we arrived at our destination. End of the line. Cartierville. About a five minute walk later we found ourselves at the gates of the place they named Parc Belmont. Long before the construction of Disney Land and Disney World we had our own Magic Kingdom. Admission to the park was thirty-five cents. Strips of tickets could be purchased for the rides. The strips would provide forty tickets with five cent value for $2.00. Most rides would cost between four to 10 tickets so the total cost of the day would not be excessive. I believe the most expensive ride in the park was the Cyclone, a wooden Roller Coaster that even I, was brave enough to ride. On a smaller scale there was the Wild Mouse. Then there were the Salt and Pepper Shakers, the Bumping Cars, The Whip, Laugh in the Dark, and the Magic Carpet which at the end rolled you out on what else, a carpet. All this happening while a big dummy of a woman laughed continuously. There was a penny arcade, where there were actually things to do for a penny including watching hand activated films. There were tents housing shows featuring the strangest freaks of nature, some real some phony. There was a dock where you could board a motor boat and be taken out about a mile and back for about 50 cents. There were also lots of things to do on the grounds for free. There were High Wire performers twice a day; there was Club 800 on Saturday afternoons with Mike Stevens and there was live music for dancing nightly. Sadly, the park which had opened on June 9, 1923, closed permanently on October 13 1983.
Some say that developers found the land had a greater value as residential housing than as an entertainment venue thus today what was once our magic kingdom gave way to condominiums. Others believe that the park closed following a police raid that may have been motivated by City Hall’s displeasure at the park, a private venture taking away business from the then city-owned La Ronde. Unfortunately, the current generation will never have the opportunity to spend a day in what was our magic kingdom. Please feel free to talk about your memories at Belmont Park on www.lastcallwithsol.com
