GASCON, Donat Arthur (1886 - c. 1966) was born in Montreal, Que. on 7 September 1886 and was educated and trained there. He joined the Province of Quebec Association of Architects in 1914 and shortly after he formed a partnership with Louis Parant. Their firm was active during the next four decades, and they devoted much of their practise to various dioceses of the Roman Catholic church in Montreal and Trois Rivieres, as well as dioceses in Ottawa, Ont. and Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This included designs for orphanages, convents, schools, churches and hospitals. A dated letter from the architects in 1936 confirms that they were operating two offices, one on Ste. Catherine Street in Montreal, and a branch office on Ste. Francois Xavier Street in Trois Rivieres, Que. Much of their early work, such as St. Joseph's Roman Catholic College in Ottawa (1925), was in a formally composed Beaux-Arts style, but by the mid-1930's they had embraced new ideas about European modernism, as can be seen in the striking design they submitted in the Dominion Housing Act Competition of 1936 (Design No. 408, p. 66, illus.), a remarkably progressive scheme which owes more to Le Corbusier, De Koninck and Mallet-Stevens, and turns its back completely on the Quebec vernacular tradition. Their design of the Royer Pavilion at the Hotel-Dieu in Montreal (1941-42) employs a similar tendency toward the modernist idiom. Gascon resigned from the O.A.A. in June 1958, and from the P.Q.A.A. in 1966. He was last recorded living at an address in Trois Rivieres in 1966 (inf. Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects; Ontario Assoc. of Architects)
GASCON & PARANT (works in Montreal unless noted)
OBLATE FATHERS RESIDENCE, Visitation Street at Dorchester Boulevard East, major addition, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 14 June 1922, 54; Montreal, Les Couvents, 1984, 348-51, illus.)
ECOLE ST. ANSELME, Rouen Street at Bercy Street, school and a residence for teachers, 1922-23 (C.R., xxxvi, 5 July 1922, 49; Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 40)
ST. PIERRE APOTRE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Visitation Street, a sacristy for the church, 1922-23 (Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 360-5, illus.)
ECOLE PAUL BRUCHESI, St. Joseph Boulevard East at Chambord Street, 1922-23 (Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 176-9, illus.)
CENTRAL GARAGE LTD., St. Denis Street at Pine Avenue East, 1923 (Le Prix Courant, 13 July 1923, 8)
OUTREMONT, Ste. Madeleine Roman Catholic Church, Outremont Avenue at Duverger Avenue, 1924-25 (Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 430-3, illus.)
STE. CECILE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Castelneau Street at Henri-Julien Avenue, 1924-26 (C.R., xxxviii, 9 July 1924, 56, t.c.; Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 416-19, illus.)
ST. REDEMPTEUR ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Adam Street at Joliette Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 11 Jan. 1928, 50; Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 462-5, illus.)
OUTREMONT, residence for Louis N. Messier, Maplewood Avenue, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 15 Aug. 1928, 52; Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 499, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, apartment house for P.A. Seers, Ste. Catherine Street West at Abbott Avenue, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 7 March 1928, 60)
COLLEGE DE ST. LAURENT, Ste. Croix Boulevard, science building and rear wing of the juvenat, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 7 March 1928, 55; Montreal, Les Couvents, 1984, 39)
ECOLE ST. EDOUARD, St. Denis Street, addition, 1929 (Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 220-3, illus.)
MONTREAL CITY & DISTRICT SAVINGS BANK, Masson Street at 17th Avenue, 1930 (Montreal, Les Banques, 1980, 48-9, illus.)
VILLA MARIA, Decarie Boulevard near Brillon Avenue, addition of the Ste. Marguerite Wing, 1930 (Montreal, Les Couvents, 1984, 370-7, illus.)
ECOLE ALFRED RICHARD, Lelievre Street, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 17 Aug. 1932, 45)
FIRE STATION NO. 47, St. Zotique Street at Delorimier Avenue, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 15 April 1931, 63; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 234-5, illus.)
ST. MARC ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Beaubien Street East, between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 18 March 1931, 61; Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 324-7, illus.)
MONTREAL CITY & DISTRICT SAVINGS BANK, Wellington Street at Galt Avenue, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 2 Sept. 1931, 50; Montreal, Les Banques, 1980, 72-3, illus.)
ECOLE LOUIS JOLIET, Darling Street at Hochelaga Street, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 6 Jan. 1932, 45)
OUTREMONT, pair of houses for J.A. Dionne, Wiseman Avenue, 1934 (Outremont b.p. 2953, 20 July 1934)
HOPITAL ST. JOSEPH DES CONVALESCENTS, Boulogne Avenue, 1937 (C.R., l, 27 Oct. 1937, 53)
(with Perrault & Gadbois) HOTEL DIEU-DE-MONTREAL, Pine Avenue West at Park Avenue, major addition for the Pavillon Le Royer, 1941-42; Pavillon Jeanne Mance, 1950 (C.R., liv, 28 May 1941, 29; lxiii, March 1950, 136; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxi, Aug. 1944, 178-9, illus.; Architecture Batiment Construction, ii, Sept. 1947, 44-8, 97, illus.; Montreal, Les Couvents, 1984, 188-99, illus.)
ROSEMONT PUBLIC BATHS, Rosemont Boulevard near 8th Avenue, 1942 (C.R., lv, 29 July 1942, 26; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 121, illus. & descrip.)
(with Payette & Crevier) GARDEN CITY OF THE TERCENTENARY, Rosemont Boulevard at Viau Street, a large tract of moderate cost housing erected for Les Cite-Jardins du Quebec, a co-operative building society, 1941-42 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxi, Sept. 1944, 196-99, illus.)
ECOLE DES ARTS ET METIERS DE MAISONNEUVE, Hochelaga Street near Darling Street, 1947-48 (Architecture Bâtiment Construction, ii, Dec. 1947, 10, 34, illus.)
ELECTRO-VOX INC., Ontario Street East near Fullum Street, factory,1947 (Architecture Batiment Construction, iii, Jan. 1948, 28-9, illus.)
ORTHOPAEDIC INSTITUTE & HOSPITAL, Decarie Boulevard at Cote St. Luc Road, 1947 (Montreal Daily Star, 11 June 1947, 26; C.R., lx, July 1947, 102; Architecture Bâtiment Construction, ii, Sept. 1947, 96)
LACHINE, QUE, major addition to St. Joseph's Convalescent Hospital, 16th Avenue, 1948 (C.R., lxi, April 1948, 144; Architecture Bâtiment Construction, iv, Nov. 1949, 27, illus.)
GASCON & PARANT (works in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia)
GRAND MERE, QUE., store for J.M.E. Marcotte, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 16 June 1920, 53)
MASKINONGE, QUE., convent for the Soeurs de Jesus-Marie, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 6 Sept. 1922, 55)
OTTAWA, ONT., St. Joseph's Scholastic College, Main Street at Oblate Avenue, addition of two wings and rebuilding of the main building, 1924-25 (C.R., xxxviii, 10 Dec. 1924, 48; xxxix, 26 Aug. 1925, 828, illus. & descrip.)
CAP-DE-LA-MADELEINE, QUE., St. Lazare Roman Catholic Church and presbytery, Toupin Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 18 Jan. 1928, 49)
TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE., Ecole St. Francois d'Assise, St. Francois d'Assise Street at Ste. Catherine Street, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 24 July 1929, 60)
TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE., orphanage for the Dominican Sisters, Carmel Boulevard at Calonne Street, 1929-30; addition, 1946 (C.R., xliii, 28 Aug. 1929, 52, t.c.; lix, June 1946, 140)
RICHELIEU, QUE., major addition to the college, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 9 April 1930, 68)
ST. JOHNS, QUE., Hotel National, Jacques Cartier Street, for N. Lord, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 23 April 1930, 64, t.c.)
CHATEAUGUAY BASSIN, QUE., monastery for the Franciscain Fathers, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 29 July 1931, 53)
MONTEBELLO, QUE., a new Roman Catholic Convent for the Dominican Sisters of Three Rivers, 1934 (Ottawa Journal, 20 April 1934, 19, descrip.)
TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE., chapel and infirmary for the Daughters of Jesus, St. Louis Boulevard, 1934 (C.R., xlviii, 11 July 1934, 95)
POINTE-DU-LAC, QUE., residence for retired priests for the Fraternite Sacredotale, 1934 (C.R., xlviii, 1 Aug. 1934, 30)
JOLIETTE, QUE., Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, a new normal school, convent, and refuge, 1935, to replace the buildings burned in early 1935 (Ottawa Journal, 25 July 1925, 13, descrip.; C.R., xlix, 9 Oct. 1935, 29)
STE. DOROTHEE, QUE., reconstruction of the Roman Catholic Church after a fire, 1937 (C.R., l, 5 May 1937, 31)
CAP-DE-LA-MADELEINE, QUE., Mission House for the Oblat Fathers, Notre Dame Street, 1937 (C.R., l, 16 June 1937, 33)
(with Jules Caron) TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE., prison, St. Francois Xavier Street, 1938 (C.R., li, 27 July 1938, 118)
TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE., movie theatre, 1938 (C.R., li, 3 Aug. 1938, 29)
ST. JOHNS, QUE., Normal School for the Congregation of Notre Dame, St. Charles Street at Mercier Street, 1938 (C.R., li, 17 Aug. 1938, 33)
ANTIGONISH, N.S., major addition to St. Bernard College, 1938 (C.R., li, 27 July 1938, 118)
POINTE-AUX-TREMBLES, QUE., reconstruction of St. Enfant Jesus Roman Catholic Church, 1938 (C.R., li, 22 June 1938, 47-8)
HULL, QUE., Ste. Therese Orphanage, Aylmer Road, addition of a day nursery, 1942 (C.R., lv, 11 March 1942, 28)
ST. JEROME, QUE., Ste. Paule Roman Catholic Church, Labelle Street, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, Feb. 1947, 149; Architecture Bâtiment Construction, ii, Oct. 1947, 50)
(with Yves Belanger) STE. ANGELE, QUE., novitiate for the Christian Brothers, 1948 (C.R., lxi, Jan. 1948, 176)
OTTAWA, ONT., major addition to Ottawa General Hospital, Bruyere Street, for the Grey Nuns, 1949-50 (C.R., lxii, May 1949, 164)
CAP-DE-LA-MADELEINE, QUE., orphanage for the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary, Ste. Marthe Street, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, April 1950, 126)