KARCH, Joseph Albert (1873-1945) maintained a busy architectural practise in Montreal, Que. for forty years. Born in Kingston, Ont. on 22 April 1873, he attended the Christian Brothers School in that city, then moved to Montreal to study at the Montreal Commercial Academy. Much of his knowledge of architecture and construction was gained from his mentor, Alphonse Raza, with whom he served a five year apprenticeship from 1889 to 1894. Karch opened his own office in Montreal in 1894, and later joined the Province of Quebec Association of Architects on 13 September 1898. He was also one of the founding members of the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada in 1907. One of the students in his office who studied under him was Joseph A. Ouellet.
Much of his practise was devoted to the preparation of designs for churches and schools for the local Roman Catholic diocese in Montreal, but his completed projects can also be found in Manitoba, Ontario and in New Brunswick. In his early ecclesiastical work, he drew inspiration from the Renaissance Revival style, as well as from the Byzantine style, best seen in his mannered design for the Ruthenian Catholic Church in Iberville Street in Montreal (1917).
He was one of the few architects to adopt a more progressive style in his later work. In 1930, in collaboration with Zotique Trudel, he prepared a refined Art Deco design for the St. James Public Market Hall, Amherst Street, Montreal (Sandra Cohen-Rose, Northern Deco - Art Deco Architecture in Montreal, 1996, 140, illus.). His last known architectural project was an ecclesiastical design prepared in 1938 for the town of La Providence, Que. Karch died in Montreal on 2 April 1945 (obituary La Presse [Montreal], 3 April 1945, 10; Gazette [Montreal], 3 April 1945, 16; Le Devoir [Montreal], 4 April 1945, 4; biog. and port. in Montreal Old & New, 1914, 262; biog. and port. in Biographies Canadiennes Francaises, 1920, 223)
J.A. KARCH (works in Montreal)
ST. GABRIEL PARISH, a presbytery for the Roman Catholic church, Centre Street, 1897 (C.R., viii, 13 May 1897, 4)
DELORMIER AVENUE, at Sherbrooke Street East, tenement block for Mrs. Cardinal, 1897 (C.R., viii, 2 Sept. 1897, 4)
CADIEUX STREET, two houses for Joseph Jobin, 1898 (C.R., viii, 6 Jan. 1898, 3)
ST. ANTHONY PARISH, St. Antoine Street, near Des Seigneurs Street, a presbytery for the church, 1899 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], xxv, Issue No. 4, July 1899)
FARM STREET, residence for Thomas Coonan, 1900 (C.R., xi, 13 June 1900, 3)
ST. HIPPOLYTE STREET, residence for T. Rochon & Son, 1900 (C.R., xi, 20 June 1900, 3)
SUSSEX STREET, near Tupper Street, residence for M.P. Goldrick, 1901 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], xxxii, 12 July 1901, 70)
CRAIG STREET, at St. Antoine Street, store and residence for A. Perrault, 1901 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], xxxii, 4 Oct. 1901, 542)
CHARLEVOIX STREET, at Wellington Street, residence for S. Goodbody, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 12 Feb. 1902, 2)
QUEEN’S HOTEL, St. James Street at Windsor Street, major addition of 75 rooms, 1903; another large addition, 196-07 (C.R., xiv, 4 March 1903, 3; 1 July 1903, 2; Gazette [Montreal], 24 May 1906, 12, descrip.; Le Prix Courant [Montreal], 1907, Week No. 40, p. 40)
CADIEUX STREET, two tenements for W.H. Breard, 1903 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], xxxvi, 13 Nov. 1903, 44)
MOREAU STREET, near Sherbrooke Street, two tenements for Joseph Jobin, 1905 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], Week No. 52, p. 58)
CHARLEVOIX STREET, three tenements for D.A. Kneeland, 1906 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], Week No. 25, p. 46)
MATTHEW HICKS & CO., Auction House, Metcalfe Street near Ste. Catherine Street West, 1906 (C.A.B., xix, July 1906, 108)
WESTMOUNT, residence for Margaret Doherty, Elm Avenue, 1907 (City of Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 202, illus.)
ST. ALOYSIUS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Nicolet Street at Stadacona Street, 1908-09 (Montreal Star, 22 Aug. 1908, 4, illus. & descrip.; Gazette [Montreal], 31 Aug. 1908, 8, descrip.; and 30 Nov. 1909, 4, detailed descrip.; C.R., xxii, 16 Sept. 1908, 27)
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, St. Antoine Street, 1908-09; and a Presbytery for the church, 1909 (C.R., xxii, 14 Oct. 1908, 24; Const., ii, Nov. 1908, 67; C.R., xxiii, 10 Feb. 1909, 21)
CAMPBELL MANUFACTURING CO., Colonial Avenue at Elmire Street, 1908-09 (C.R., xxii, 30 Dec. 1908, 28; Const., ii, Dec. 1908, 62)
ACADEMIE ST. PAUL, St. Denis Street at Beaubien Street, 1909-10 (La Presse [Montreal], 26 Feb. 1910, 14, illus. & descrip.; City of Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 260-61, illus.)
ST. EDOUARD ROMAN CATHOLIC ACADEMY, Beaubien Street at LaBelle Street, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 2 June 1909, 21; Le Prix Courant [Montreal], Week No. 21, p. 42)
WESTMOUNT, residence for Narcisse T. Gagnon, 1909 (City of Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 266, illus.)
OUTREMONT, residence for P.R. Du Tremblay Cote Ste. Catherine Road, 1911; demol. 1978 (Outremont b.p. 442, 20 April 1911; C.R., xxv, 10 May 1911, 56)
OUTREMONT, residence for Arthur Berthiaume, 1911; additions, 1922; alterations, 1928; demol. 1971 (Outremeont b.p. 523, 21 July 1911)
ST. DENIS STREET, a store and row of houses for J.E. Migneron, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 10 Jan. 1912, 65)
OUTREMONT, residence for Joseph Pierre Rolland, Rockland Avenue, 1913 (Outremont b.p. 791, 14 May 1913)
ST. MICHAEL’S RUTHENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Iberville Street, 1917 (C.R., xxxi, 23 May 1917, 464, 466, illus. & descrip.)
ST. HENRI ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Couvent Street, 1921-23 (F. Remillard & B. Merrett, Montreal Architecture, 1990, 127, illus.)
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, St. Antoine Street at Couvent Street, 1922; still standing in 2022 (La Presse [Montreal], 14 Oct. 1922, 7, illus.; C.R., xxxvi, 18 Oct. 1922, 54; inf. Yves Guillet, St. Lambert)
ST. FRANCOIS SOLANO ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Dandurand Street, 1924 (C.R., xxxviii, 30 Jan. 1924, 52; C.R., xliii, 29 May 1929, 105, illus. in advert.; City of Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 198-201, illus.)
VILLE MARIE APARTMENTS, St. Denis Street near Marie Anne Street, 1926-27 (City of Montreal, Les Appartements, 1991, 317-19, illus.)
ST. AUGUSTINE’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Cote Street, alterations and enlargement of the 1919 church originally designed by Audet & Charbonneau, 1929 (City of Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 162-63, illus.)
(with Zotique Trudel) ST. JAMES PUBLIC MARKET HALL, Amherst Street at Ontario Street, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 11 March 1931, 123; R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, Nov. 1931, page xxiv, illus. in advert.; Const., xxiv, Dec. 1931, 381-85, illus. & descrip.; City of Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 156-57, illus.)
STE. CATHERINE ROAD, near Northmount Street, nine duplex residences for L.P. Renaud, 1937 (C.R., Vol. 50, 15 Dec. 1937, 29)
J.A. KARCH (works elsewhere)
ST. BONIFACE, MAN., two major additions to St. Boniface Roman Catholic College, and new entrance portico, for the Jesuit Brothers, 1904-05; burned 1922 (Montreal Daily Star, 30 Jan. 1904, 10, detailed descrip.; La Presse [Montreal], 22 May 1905, 9, illus.; North West Review [Winnipeg], 29 July 1905, 5; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 6 December 1906, Building Number, 45, illus. & descrip.)
ST. HYACINTHE, QUE., Grand Opera Theatre, for Leopold Clapin, 1905 (La Presse [Montreal], 28 Oct. 1905, 22, descrip.)
EDMUNDSTON, N.B., Roman Catholic school, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 17 March 1920, 58)
LA PROVIDENCE, QUE., a church for the Roman Catholic Parish of the Precious Blood, 1938 (C.R., li, 18 May 1938, 182; 12 Oct. 1938, 39)