TRUDEL, Zotique (1871-1931), a native of Sorel, Quebec, was active in Montreal as an architect for more than thirty years. He was educated at the University of Montreal, and he became registered as a member of the Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects on 13 September 1898. After 1900 he became a remarkably prolific figure in Montreal, and his name is associated with over one hundred commissions for single residences, rows of tenements, and rows of shops which are recorded in the weekly editions of the Montreal construction journal called Le Prix Courant. Many of these modest projects still stand today on streets such as Mount Royal Avenue, Mentana Street, on The Esplanade, and on Ste. Catherine Street East, and were invariably commissioned by French-speaking property owners and real estate companies.
Trudel also holds the distinction of being the designer of one of the first movie theatres in Montreal. His scheme for the Ouimetscope Theatre (1907) was commissioned by the inventor of the projection system, Leo E. Ouimet, and was designed to accommodate over 1,000 patrons. Trudel provided an opulent Renaissance Revival design for this landmark work, and photographs of his original design can be found in Dane Lanken, Montreal Movie Palaces, 1993, 36-37, illus. & descrip.
After 1910 Trudel began to receive commissions from the Roman Catholic diocese in Montreal for school buildings, and, after 1920, for commissions to design several new churches, often executed in a contemporary interpretation of Romanesque precedents. In 1927 he formed a partnership with Simeon Brais, but it appears that their collaboration lasted for only two years. Trudel was one of few architects to make the convincing transition to a more modern Art Deco style, best seen in his 1930 design for the St. James Public Market Hall, executed in collaboration with Joseph A. Karch (Sandra Cohen-Rose, Northern Deco: Art Deco Architecture in Montreal, 1996, 140, illus.). Trudel died in Montreal on 19 December 1931 (obituary and port. La Presse [Montreal], 21 Dec. 1931, 14; Le Devoir [Montreal], 24 Dec. 1931, 10; Montreal Star, 21 Dec. 1931, 37; R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, Jan. 1932, 26).
Z. TRUDEL (Commercial works in Montreal)
OUIMETOSCOPE THEATRE, with offices above, for Leo Ernest Ouimet, Ste. Catherine Street East at Montcalm Street, 1907 (La Presse [Montreal], 21 March 1907, 2, illus. & descrip.; Dane Lanken, Montreal Movie Palaces, 1993, 36-7, illus. & descrip.)
HOTEL LE RELAIS, Berri Street at St. Louis Street, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 19 April 1911, 57, descrip.)
Z. TRUDEL (Institutional & Ecclesiastical works in Montreal unless noted)
LA MAISON BOURGIE, a funeral home and morgue, Ste. Catherine Street East, 1908 (La Presse [Montreal], 1 Dec. 1908, 5, illus. & descrip.)
ST. MICHEL PUBLIC BATHS, St. Dominique Street at Maguire Street, in Ville St. Louis, 1909-10; baths closed in 2014; building restored 2016-21 (Montreal Daily Star, 10 Dec. 1909, 20, t.c.; inf. Yves Guillet, St. Lambert, Que.)
EGLISE ST. JEAN-DE-LA-CROIX, St. Laurent Boulevard at St. Zotique Street, a sub-basement for the new church, and a presbytery, 1910-11; with construction of the main church, 1926-27; interior furnishings, 1927; enlargement and repairs to the presbytery, 1930-31 (C.R., xxiv, 10 Aug. 1910, 25; and description of the church in C.R., xl, 25 Aug. 1926, 806, illus. & descrip.; City of Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 256-59, illus.)
ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, Labelle Street, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 26 April 1911, 53)
POLICE STATION NO. 15, St. Hubert Street, near Sherbrooke Street East, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 29 Nov. 1911, 58; xxvi, 3 Jan. 1912, 65)
ST. LEONARD DE PORT MAURICE, QUE., a Roman Catholic School, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 27 Sept. 1911, 59)
COLLEGE NOTRE DAME DU ROSAIRE, Chateaubriand Avenue at Villeray Street, 1911-12 (City of Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 172-3, illus.)
LONGUE POINTE, QUE., Ecole Boucher-de-la-Bruere, Lepailler Street at Lavaitrie Street, 1913 (Montreal Daily Star, 4 July 1913, 22; t.c.; La Presse [Montreal], 12 July 1913, 15, illus.; C.R., xxvii, 23 July 1913, 72; City of Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 16-17, illus.)
ST. ARSENE ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISH, a new presbytery for the church, Christopher Columbus Street at Daniel Street, 1916 (C.R., xxx, 8 March 1916, 230)
Z. TRUDEL (Residential works in Montreal unless noted)
CARRIERE APARTMENTS, Mount Royal Avenue West near St. Urbain Street, 1911 (City of Montreal, Les Appartements, 1991, 250-52, illus.)
OUTREMONT, residence for Ferdinand Guerin, Ainslie Avenue, 1912 (City of Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 317, illus.)
TRUDEL & BRAIS (works in Montreal unless noted)
MONTREAL NORTH, St. Vital Roman Catholic Church & Presbytery, at Angus Park near 15th Avenue, 1927 (C.R., xli, 27 April 1927, 52, t.c.; Album des Eglises de la Province de Quebec, Vol. iii, 1930, 57, illus.)
OUTREMONT, residence for Arthur Painchaud, Cote Ste. Catherine Road, 1927; demol. 1980 (C.R., xli, 27 April 1927, 57, t.c.; Outremont b.p. 2189, 2 May 1927)
OUTREMONT, a row of five duplex houses for Henri Charest, Querbes Avenue, 1927 (Outremont b.p. 2211, 6 June 1927)
DORION, QUE., Town Hall, 1927 (Parks Canada, Town Halls of Canada, 1987, 271)
OUTREMONT, residence for Paul E. Roy, Hartland Avenue, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 19 June 1929, 111; City of Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 610-11, illus.)
TRUDEL & KARCH (works in Montreal)
ST. JAMES PUBLIC MARKET, Amherst Street at Ontario Street, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 11 March 1931, 123; Const., xxiv, Dec. 1931, 381-85, illus. & descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, Nov. 1931, page xxiv, illus. in advert.; City of Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 156-57, illus.; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 186-87, illus. & descrip.)