SPENCE, David Jerome (1873-1955), an important and highly talented architect active in Montreal for nearly 50 years. He was a member of the following firms:
Finley & Spence, Montreal, 1901-1912 (with Samuel A. Finley)
D.J. Spence, Montreal, 1912-1937
Spence, Mathias & Burge, Montreal, 1938-1941 (with F. David Mathias and Thomas W. Burge)
Spence & Mathias, Montreal, 1946-1950 (with F. David Mathias)
(biography in preparation)
David J. SPENCE (Commercial and Industrial works in Montreal and area)
UNITY BUILDING, La Gauchetiere Street, begun by Finley & Spence in 1912; completed by D.J. Spence, 1912-13 (Const., viii, July 1915, 316, illus.; Montreal, Architecture Industrielle, 1982, 72-3, illus.; Gazette [Montreal], 14 April 2001, J 8, illus. & descrip.)
SCROGGIE BUILDING, Ste. Catherine Street West at Bleury Street, 1912-13 (La Presse [Montreal], 29 Nov. 1912, 15, illus.; C.R., xxvi, 25 Dec. 1912, 43, illus. & descrip.; Const., vi, April 1913, 20 illus. in advert.; Standard [Montreal], 11 Oct. 1913, Supplement, 8, illus.)
IMPERIAL THEATRE, Bleury Street near Mayor Street, 1916 (Montreal, Les Magasins Les Cinemas, 1985, 364-5, illus.)
PRINCESS THEATRE, Ste. Catherine Street West, 1917 (Montreal Daily Star, 4 Jan. 1917, 2, illus. & descrip.; and 7 July 1917, 2, illus.; C.R., xxxi, 7 Feb. 1917, 45, t.c.; Const., xi, Feb. 1918, 68-70, illus. & descrip.; D. Lanken, Montreal Movie Palaces, 1994, 71-3, illus.)
THEATRE FRANCAIS, Ste. Catherine Street East near St. Dominique Street (now called Metropolis Nightclub), major addition and enlargement for the Canadian United Theatre Co., 1917-18 (Montreal Daily Star, 1 Dec. 1917, 20)
CANADIAN CAR & FOUNDRY CO., Craig Street near St. Genevieve Street, a 5 storey office block, 1919 (Montreal Daily Star, 22 March 1919, 27)
BURLAND ESTATE BUILDING, Notre Dame Street near St. John Street, a 3 storey office block, 1919 (Montreal Daily Star, 22 March 1919, 27)
THEATRE, for the Duffield Estate, costing $50,000, 1919 (Montreal Daily Star, 2 Aug. 1919, 24)
BEAVER BUILDING, Beaver Hall Hill at Lagauchetiere Street, 1921 (C.R., xxxv, 29 Jan. 1921, 618-19, illus. & descrip.)
INSURANCE EXCHANGE BUILDING, St. James Street opposite St. John Street, 1923-24 (C.R., xxxvii, 26 Dec. 1923, 1267-8, illus. & descrip.; Const., xvii, Oct. 1924, 300-06, illus. & descrip.; Canadian Engineer, xlvii, 2 Dec. 1924, 563-5, illus. & descrip.; Montreal, Les Hotels Les Immeubles de Bureaux, 1983, 57-9, illus.)
RELIANCE SERVICE GARAGE, St. James Street West near Windsor Street, 1924 (Montreal b.p. 5845, 1924)
(with John M. Lyle) DOMINION BANK, Bleury Street at Ste. Catherine Street West, 1927-28 (R.A.I.C. Journal, vi, March 1929, 84, illus.; xiv, Sept. 1937, 179-80, illus. & descrip.)
(with Perrault & Gadbois) RAILWAY EXCHANGE BUILDING, Craig Street West near Victoria Square, 1927-28 (Const., xx, April 1927, 135; C.R., xli, 14 Sept. 1927, 55; Daily Journal of Commerce [Toronto], 12 Sept. 1927, 1, illus.; Gazette [Montreal], 11 Nov. 1927, 26, descrip. in advert. )
DISTILLERS CORP. (also known as The House of Seagram), Peel Street near Ste. Catherine Street West, office building, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 16 May 1928, 63; R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, May 1931, xvii, illus. in advert.; Montreal, Les Hotels Les Immeubles de Bureaux, 1983, 189-91, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, The Packard Building, St. Catherine Street West, 1929 (City of Westmount, Westmount: A Heritage to Preserve, 1991, 40, illus.)
AULT & WIBORG CO. LTD., Benoit Street at Vallee Street, warehouse, 1929 (Montreal b.p. 3681, 1929)
WESTMOUNT, The Packard Building, Ste. Catherine Street West, 1929 (City of Westmount, Westmount: A Heritage to Preserve, 1991, 40, illus.)
CANADIAN CAR & FOUNDRY CO., St. Anotine Street at Ste. Sophie Street, factory, 1930 (Montreal b.p. 380, 1930; Anglin Norcross Construction Co., Canadian Buildings, 1930)
David J. SPENCE (Institutional & Ecclesiastical works in Montreal and area)
FIRE STATION NO. 3, Ottawa Street at Young Street, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 8 Oct. 1913, 70; Gazette [ Montreal], 18 Nov. 1913, 3; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 210-11, illus.)
POSTAL STATION F., Notre Dame Street at Richmond Street, 1913-14; renovated and restored 2012-13 (C.R., xxvii, 30 July 1913, 68; Canada, Sessional Papers, 1915, Appendix 19, Report of the Chief Architect, 17-18, descrip.; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 48-9, illus.)
VILLE ST. PIERRE, West Hill High School, West Hill Avenue, a 3 storey block, 1919; school closed 1979; converted to residential use in 1984; still standing in 2023 (C.R., xxxiii, 1 Jan. 1919, 4-5, illus. & descrip.; Montreal Daily Star, 4 Oct. 1919, 39, descrip.)
VERDUN, Rushbrooke Street Protestant School, 1919 (C.R., xxxiii, 29 Jan. 1919, 38, t.c.; xxxiv, 14 Jan. 1920, 32, illus. & descrip.)
VERDUN, major addition to Bannatyne Protestant School, Bannatyne Avenue at Galt Street, 1919; demol. c. 1977 (Montreal Daily Star, 30 July 1919, 9)
ROMAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, Durocher Street, between Milton Street and Sherbrooke Street West, 1921 (Gazette [Montreal], 8 June 1921, 7, descrip.; Const., xvi, Feb. 1923, 50-3, illus. & descrip.)
VERDUN, Woodlands Protestant School, Verdun Avenue at Melrose Avenue, 1921-22 (Le Prix Courant, liv, 11 Nov. 1921, 16)
OUTREMONT, Hebrew Maternity Hospital, de Bullion Street, 1924-25 (C.R., xxxviii, 10 Dec. 1924, 48)
MONTREAL FOUNDLING & BABY HOSPITAL, St. Urbain Street, c. 1925 (Anglin Norcross Const. Co., Canadian Buildings, 1930)
ST. BRIDGET'S HOME FOR WOMEN, Lagauchetiere Street, major addition and alterations, 1927; demol. (Montreal Daily Star, 1 June 1927, 5, descrip.; C.R., xli, 8 June 1927, 52)
SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVENT, Atwater Avenue at McGregor Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 4 Jan. 1928, 47; Montreal, Les Couvents, 1984, 62-5, illus.)
OLD BREWERY MISSION, Coursol Street at Canning Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 1 Feb. 1928, 46)
METHODIST CHURCH, Coursol Street, additions and alterations, 1928 (Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 84-5, illus.)
SAULT AUX RECOLLET, rebuilding after a fire of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Convent, Gouin Boulevard at St. Charles Avenue, 1929; major addition, 1938 (C.R., xliii, 17 July 1929, 591; li, 10 Aug. 1938, 31; Montreal, Les Couvents, 1984, 312-15, illus.)
HOGAN PUBLIC BATHS, Wellington Street, in Marguerite Bourgeois Park, 1931-32 (C.R., xlv, 18 March 1931, 60; Canadian Engineer, lxvi, 27 March 1934, 7-10, illus. & descrip.; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 16-17, illus.; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 115, illus. & descrip.)
ST. GABRIEL PARK, public bandstand, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 27 Jan. 1932, 47, t.c.)
GALLERY SQUARE, St. Anne's Ward, public washroom building, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 27 Jan. 1932, 47, t.c.)
VICTORIA RIFLES ARMOURY, Cathcart Street, 1933 (C.R., xlvii, 25 Jan. 1933, 37; Gazette [Montreal], 25 March 1933, 5, descrip.; 3 April 1933, 3, descrip.; Const., xxvii, July-Aug. 1934, 102-07, 115, illus. & descrip.; Montreal, Architecture Militaire, 1982, 58-61, illus.)
ST. BRENDAN'S ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, 9th Avenue, Rosemount, major addition, 1938 (Gazette [Montreal], 15 Sept. 1938, 9, t.c.)
David J. SPENCE (Residential works in Montreal and area)
WESTMOUNT, Flobert Apartments, de Maisonneuve Boulevard West at Olivier Avenue, 1913 (Montreal, Les Appartements, 1991, 152-3, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, residence for Daniel Stroud, Kensington Avenue, 1913 (Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 690-1, illus.)
PINE AVENUE WEST, large residence for Jeffrey H. Burland, 1913-14; work halted after the death of Burland on 9 October 1914; house later altered in 1925 by Kenneth Rea and Charles A. Platt (Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 115-17, illus.; F. Remillard & B. Merret, Mansions of the Golden Square Mile Montreal 1850-1930, 1986, 216-19, illus.; inf. Scott Edwards)
CEDAR AVENUE, large garage and stables at the residence for Lt. Col. W. Watt Burland, 1914 (C.R., xxviii, 8 July 1914, 80, t.c.)
OUTREMONT, residence for William St. Pierre, Peronne Avenue, 1921 (Outremont b.p. 1390, 25 July 1921; C.H.G., vi, Aug. 1929, 31, illus.; Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 622, illus.)
RICHELIEU PLACE HOUSING ESTATE, running from Ontario Avenue to Mountain Street, a tract of 36 houses surrounding a courtyard on the former estate lands of C.M. Hays, for Mansions Development Co., 1925-26 (Gazette [Montreal], 25 Feb. 1925, 15, descrip.; 29 Oct. 1925, 14, illus. & descrip., but lacking attribution; inf. Scott Edwards)
OUTREMONT, pair of houses for Thomas O'Connell, McCulloch Avenue, 1925 (Outremont b.p. 1933, 8 June 1925)
TOWER APARTMENTS, Cote St. Luc Road at Bonavista Avenue, 1937 (C.R., vol. 50, 13 Jan. 1937, 34)
SPENCE, MATHIAS & BURGE (works in Montreal)
H. SMITH TRANSPORT CO., Richardson Street, office, warehouse and garage, 1938 (Financial Post [Toronto], 2 July 1938, 9)
CANADAIAN CAR & FOUNDRY CO. LTD., Notre Dame Street, Point St. Charles, large addition to factory, 1940; major addition to factory, 1941 (Financial Post [Toronto], 26 Sept. 1940, 19; 12 Feb. 1941, 19, descrip.)
SPENCE & MATHIAS (works in Montreal)
DOMINION WIRE ROPE & CABLE CO., St. Joseph Street, major addition to factory, 1946 (C.R., lix, Sept. 1946, 141)
PHILLIPS SQUARE BUILDING, Phillips Square at Ste. Catherine Street West, office block, 1948-49 (C.R., lxi, Feb. 1948, 168; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, July 1950, 42, illus. in advert.)
RIVER RIDGE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, on the Back River, North Montreal, adjacent to the Pie IX Bridge, 1949-50 (Gazette [Montreal], 9 Dec. 1949, 21, descrip.; C.R., xliii, Jan. 1950, 150)
David J. SPENCE (works elsewhere)
GRAND MERE, QUE., clubhouse and community hall for the Laurentide Pulp & Paper Co., 1912-13 (P. Trepanier, 'Grand Mere', in Continuite, No. 49, Winter/Spring 1991, 51-2)
TROIS RIVIERES, QUE., residence for H. Helin, 1917 (C.R., xxxi, 20 June 1917, 44)
OTTAWA, ONT. major addition and extensive alterations to the Dominion Theatre, and to the adjacent Hotel Cecil, Sparks Street at Bank Street, 1919 (Ottawa Journal, 25 July 1919, 5, descrip.)
GRAND MERE, QUE., major additions to the Laurentide Inn (also known as Auberge Grand Mere), 6th Avenue, 1920 (P. Trepanier, 'Grand Mere', in Continuite, No. 49, Winter/Spring 1991, 51-2)
ST. LAMBERT, QUE., major addition to the factory of the Waterman's Fountain Pen Co., St. Denis Avenue at Waterman Street, 1920; later converted to apartments, c. 2000 (Montreal Daily Star, 17 Sept. 1920, 21; South Shore Gleaner [St. Lambert], 25 Sept. 1920, 2, illus. & descrip.; inf. Yves Guillet, St. Lambert, Que.)
(with Charles Goodman) STE. AGATHE, QUE., Mount Sinai Sanatorium, 1929-30 (Canadian Hotel Review, viii, Jan. 1930, 62; R.A.I.C. Journal, vii, Aug. 1930, 289, illus.)
PHILIPSBURG, QUE., 'Lakeside Farm', a residence for Mr. Montgomery, c. 1929 (C.H.G., vii, May 1930, 24-9, illus.)
VALLEYFIELD, QUE., mill for Brubacher Silk Mills Ltd., 1930 (C.R., xliv, 21 May 1930, 65)
STE. AGATHE DES MONTS, QUE., Kinkora Summer Camp for Boys, a new Assembly Hall for the camp, 1935 (Gazette [Montreal], 16 Sept. 1935, 2, descrip.)
STE. DOROTHEE, QUE., 'Stonewalls', a residence for John H.Van Sickels, c. 1937 (C.H.G., xv, Nov. 1938, 34-5, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
WINNIPEG, MAN., City Hall, 1913. Spence was one of 39 architects from across Canada who submitted plans in this national competition, but he was not among the five finalists (City of Winnipeg Archives, Council Communications, 1913, Box A169, Item 9741, list of entrants). The winners were Clemesha & Portnall of Regina, but their scheme was never built.