It has been quite some time on the making. A new park desperately needed in Park Extension. In our previous conversations with the borough councillor Mary Deros, she had mentioned how excited she was for the completion of this new project.
The City of Montreal on the 5th of October 2022 announced the end of development work on this new green public space in Villeray-Saint-Michel- Park-Extension.
The park, a component of the major urban project MIL Montréal, contributes to improving the quality of life of the neighborhood community, in particular that of its children, in addition to offering innovative facilities in terms of ecological transition.
In total, nearly 4,000 m2 of green space have been added to the Parc-Extension district, at the intersection of Beaumont and De L’Épée avenues, promoting relaxation, socialization and play. This project thus meets a need crying out from the community expressed during a citizen participation process. It is made up of greenery, relaxation areas, water jets, as well as two play areas for children aged 5 to 12, including a concrete ramp for universal accessibility.
The space is equipped with a vast grassy plain and a rain garden promoting the ecological management of runoff water in order to limit overflows from the City’s underground networks. It also helps to fight against heat islands in a sector that is highly exposed to them.
Avenue De L’Épée: an innovative layout
This thoroughfare has been redesigned to ensure a safe environment around Dickie-Moore Park, the objective being to calm traffic and protect active travel. The foundation of the Avenue De L’Épée roadway was completely rebuilt with recycled materials, which is a first for the City of Montreal. This practice could be extended to other projects according to the City of Montreal press release.
It should be noted that with the MIL Montréal project, the City wishes to develop a mixed neighborhood made up of buildings dedicated to teaching and university research and housing for affordable and social purposes, all articulated around a extensive network of public spaces across the site and in neighboring areas.
“Democracy at its best” says Mary Deros
“It is a green space that we badly needed. The children love it, the adults love it. I am proud that it is a result of our public consultations. Democracy at its best!” said Mary Deros adding that those 2 public consultations involved both children and adults. According to Deros, it was Mary McCutcheon from the Park Extension Historical Society that first brought the proposal to one of the council meetings. The empty lot that used to be the park was purchased by the University of Montreal with funds allocated to develop the boroughs surrounding the University and then passed on to Park-Extension.
Richard Winston “Dickie” Moore
The park was named in honor of number 12 of the Montreal Canadiens, thus perpetuating the special bond that united the former fiery left winger of the Montreal Canadiens, holder of no less than six Stanley Cups with this team, to the community of the Parc-Extension neighborhood where he grew up. Richard Winston “Dickie” Moore (January 6, 1931 – December 19, 2015) was a Canadian professional hockey player, successful businessman and community philanthropist. He twice won the Art Ross Trophy as the National Hockey League’s leading scorer and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Moore spent much of his career with the Montreal Canadiens, but also played briefly with the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. In 2017 Moore was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history.
The Park Extension Historical Society (SHPEHS) was formed in 2009 as a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting – and more importantly – preserving the memories of this multicultural community of 30,000 plus residents annexed to the city of Montreal in 1910 and since 2002 forming the west end of the Villeray-St Michel-Park Extension borough.
