This is a very interesting excerpt:

"Mount Royal was originally designed by J. Lonsdale Doupe, chief surveyor for the CPR Western Region, with the help of Olmstead Brothers in Brookline Massachusetts, the successor to the original Olmstead , Vaux & Co., run by F.L. Olmstead's two sons. F. L. Olmstead is the founder of the landscape architecture profession, making Mount Royal a significant historical neighborhood hard to improve on. Mount Royal is one of only eight sites in Canada for which the original Olmstead firm and its successors has records. The historical significance is great, Mount Royal should not be improved on by redesigning it, but should be preserved as best we can. The traffic is the problem, not the design of the neighborhood. Over the years elements of the original design has
changed. Some examples are, some of the old light standards were moved to Memorial Park, Heritage homes demolished and the botanical gardens in both South Mount Royal and Talon Avenue Parks are gone. 

Last modified: November 17, 2006