Léo Dandurand (1889 Bourbonnais, Illinois - 1964 Montréal)

Léo Dandurand, a successful athlete himself, was the flamboyant co-owner of the Montréal Canadiens Hockey Club (1921-1935) and of the downtown Drury’s Restaurant and English Inn (1938-1959). He was a very active participant in Montreal sporting circles: hockey, football, baseball, boxing/wrestling and horse racing.

Léo Dandurand and his wife Emilia Laplante bought, in 1940, 6 acres of Farm 18 from the estate of Joseph Léonide Perron, first Mayor of Beaconsfield. The portion of the property included the waterfront house of the mayor which was badly damaged by fire a few weeks after the transaction. Dandurand had a near replica of J. L. Perron’s original design built on the original site. In 1953, Dandurand sold the property to the Sisters of The Good Shepherd, who established a Youth Protection School for young English Catholic girls, named Marian Hall. The property was sold to the city of Beaconsfield in 1965. The building served as City Hall until 1968 when it became Centennial Hall.

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