Part of overhauled McGill College Avenue to be named for jazz legend Oscar Peterson

Montreal to name plaza after Oscar Peterson Montreal will rename a revamped plaza in its downtown after legendary musician Oscar Peterson.

MONTREAL — City Hall has finally settled on a way to honour Montreal's late jazz great Oscar Peterson.

CTV News Montreal has learned that part of the newly overhauled McGill College Avenue will be named for the famed musician.

McGill College, an iconic Montreal boulevard, is getting a major makeover which includes a "mini forest" landscaping job and, evidently, a new name — or at least partially so.

Oscar Peterson was a world-renowned jazz pianist from Montreal who passed away from kidney failure in 2007. He has been immortalized in numerous Montreal institutions and monuments, including Concordia University's Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, but there has long been talk of cementing his legacy through Montreal's official channels.

Kelly Peterson, wife of Oscar Peterson, stands next to an artist's impression of a plaza to be named in honour of the late jazz musician Oscar Peterson during an announcement in Montreal, Tuesday, August 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes 

In August 2020, a petition to rename the Lionel-Groulx metro station after Oscar Peterson reached its 25,000 signature goal, but to no avail.

Just a few months later, the Ensemble Montréal party, the city's official opposition, tabled an unsuccessful motion suggesting that the Place des Festivals be named for the musician.

The latest update on McGill College Avenue's upgrade will therefore be welcome news for the many Oscar Peterson fans who have been waiting for the city to make a move.

Announcement of this change will be made officially by Valerie Plante in a press conference tomorrow.