Special Feature on this website:

A Historic Landmark – more than a building

A HISTORIC LANDMARK OF AIR & SPACE LAW

3661 Peel St., a beautiful building in Montreal‘s Golden Square Mile, presenting its roadside modestly among other heritage buildings of the “Merchant Princes” of the Golden Age.1

For generations of alumnae and alumni of the Institute of Air and Space Law of McGill University this building was the representation in stone and wood and the icon of “the Institute”.

When alumnae and alumni gathered in Montreal e.g. for global conferences on air and space law, they met for a joint walk to “the Institute” = 3661 Peel St.  A pilgrimage, a ritual, reviving memories of lectures, workshops, discussions, exams. Unifying to work on the continued shaping of the future of air and space law.

Foto ritual of IASL alumnae & alumni at the International Conference on Air and Space Law in Montreal in October 1996 (conference fully documented in the Annals of Air & Space Law 1997)
(c) Dr. Andreas Kadletz, private collection

One example of this is shown in the photo of October 1996, taken during a break of the International Conference on Air and Space Law. IASL Alumnae and alumni gathered at its front door. 

From the documentation of the 1996 international conference
„Air & Space Law Challenges – Confronting Tomorrow“

They all had sat in the same classroom during different years, stretching decades, partially working with the same professors such as Ivan Vlasic, a personified institution of space law as such, Nicolas Matte who shaped the Institute and initiated the Centre for Air & Space Law and the Annals of Air & Space Law, Micheal Milde the personified Legal Bureau of ICAO who shaped global aviation rules in critical times of the world and many more.

IASL classroom for generations: the grand salon of 3661 Peel St.

Sometimes alumni of previous years would return to the classroom and share their career experience or continued professional knowledge with present students. Students and professors discussed and knitted their networks in coffee breaks in the back of the building or its porch, and spent extended time after lectures over lunch at Thomson house, 3650 McTavish, easy to reach as it was just adjacent to 3661 Peel, back-to-back.

Closeup of the sign on the right side of the entrance door at 3661 Peel St. in the 1990s.
The subject of regulated industries was later added and some alumnae focused their research besides government regulations of air transport (and the respective deregulation) on global telecommunications and banking/financial services.
Richard Janda e.g. was an IASL professor supporting such extended approaches.

A prolific brochure, spread out across all continents of the world, of the 1990s featured 3661 Peel not only as the home of the Institute of Air & Space Law, but also the Centre for Graduate Studies in Law at McGill University. It further contributed to making the building at 3661 Peel iconic and synonymous of global competence in air and space law, in ICAO’s and IATA’s immediate vicinity.

Cover page and excerpts of the early 1990s brochure on graduate studies in law at McGill University
and the Institute of Air & Space Law at 3661 Peel St.

What was the history of this building before?2 It was erected in 1912, during the “Golden Age of the Square Mile”and designed by famous architect Robert Findlay, and built for Lady Charlotte Rosalind Harrisson.3 Lady Harrisson was the daughter of wealthy Montreal citizen Robert T. Harrisson and was married to David Charles Macarow.

Macarow was a rising star among the merchant bankers of the days. While they were predominantly Scottish, Macarow was of Russian decent, son of Ivan Macarov who came from Russia to Kingston to establish a business. David Charles Macarow became general manager of the Merchants Bank of Canada and his signature, along with the signature of Sir Hugh Andrew Montagu Allan was on Canadian banknotes issued by the bank. Under his management the Merchants Bank of Canada fell into distress around 1920/21 and was absorbed in an emergency merger by the Bank of Montreal in 1922 to avoid greater negative impacts on Canadian economy. 

Example of a 10 dollar note of 1917,4 issued by the Merchants Bank of Canada with the signatures of David Charles Macarow and Sir Hugh Andrew Montagu Allan, the latter being famous for Ravenscrag, one of the most spectacular houses of the Golden Square Mile, today also owned by McGill University

The house at 3661 Peel St. was divided into 5 compartments in 1946. From 1951 onwards it was used by the Marianopulos college. In 1976 the building was acquired by McGill University. The iconic IASL building period began.

A special feature of the building 3661 Peel is the main entrance at the short side. The plot of real estate on which it was erected was narrow and long. The main entrance with representative round arch windows was placed in the lateral part facing Peel St. The even more representative beautiful gallery and the main living room were at the long side, facing downtown Montreal. The former representative grand salon with its beautiful lead glas windows and parquet floor served at the classroom for generations of IASL students, many of whom later shaped air and space law and business across the globe.

Around 2008 the IASL left the building to hold lectures across the street in the law faculty. In 2026 the building underwent a major renovation. 

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  1. Notion of the „Merchant Princes of Montreal“ inspired by Donald MacKay’s „The Square Mile“ (Douglas & McIntyre) 1987 ↩︎
  2. Propriété no de matricule : 9840-55-0112-7-000-0000, Bâtiment dossier no°: 30-F14081155 ↩︎
  3. https://montroyal.montreal.ca/batiment-residentiel/3661-rue-peel-universite-mcgill (2026) ↩︎
  4. Picture and IP rights belong to the Bank of Canada Museum, reference: https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/collection/artefact/view/1974.0017.00006.000/canada-merchants-bank-of-canada-the-10-dollars-january-3-1917 ↩︎

(c) Dr. Andreas Kadletz, 2026