This bold and visionary art installation is the final piece of the five-year, $200 million revitalization project of Place Ville Marie that saw the complete redesign of its Esplanade, as well as the opening of gourmet food hall Le Cathcart. The Ring took nearly two years to complete, involving a multidisciplinary team of talented individuals from both Montréal and Trois-Rivières that collaborated closely to create a symbolic structure in the heart of Québec’s largest metropolis.

The Ring itself serves as a window to more than 200 years of history, establishing a direct line of view from The Queen Elizabeth Hotel and Esplanade PVM to McGill University, the former Royal Victoria Hospital, and Mount Royal. And in a touch of Montréal flair, The Ring’s evening illumination will mirror that of the Mount Royal Cross, further symbolizing the historic bond of the built heritage along this important axis in Montréal’s downtown core – particularly as the REM project advances and McGill College Avenue prepares to undergo its own ‘green’ transformation in the coming years.

Designed by award-winning landscape architects Claude Cormier + Associés, The Ring is the latest project from the same team behind other impressive urban renewal projects in Montréal such as the Pink Balls and 18 Shades of Gay in the Village, the Clock Tower Beach in the Old Port of Montreal, the stairs and fountain at the northern end of Dorchester Square, and the Lipstick Forest inside the Palais des congrès.

Financial assistance for the project came from Tourisme Montréal’s Fonds de maintien des actifs stratégiques en tourisme (FMAST) as well as from the Government of Quebec and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.