‘I can’t take a position now for a project that does not exist,’ Mayor Lalonde tells angry residents
News that Tennis Canada is planning a new stadium with a retractable roof to improve its existing facilities in Jarry Park drew a larger-than-usual crowd for Villeray/Saint-Michel/Parc Extension’s July public meeting at the borough’s Ogilvy Avenue headquarters on July 7.
Since it wouldn’t be the first time Tennis Canada has undertaken an expansion of IGA Stadium in the park, and questions are being raised about the park’s pool and baseball field being compromised, some residents of Parc Extension as well as Villeray are angered by the potential fallout.
Is borough passing the buck?
They are also accusing the borough council of complacency for passing the buck to the centre city, which is responsible for the 36-hectare Jarry Park, which in turn is defined as a “large park” containing biodiversity and natural spaces.
According to a news report in June, the proposed project would increase the stadium’s capacity to approximately 15,000 seats (the current IGA Stadium has 11,991 seats) and add up to four tennis practice courts and a center court.
A preliminary study on the stadium’s future provided Tennis Canada with three options: The renovation of the existing IGA stadium, the construction of a new stadium in Jarry Park, or the relocation of the tournament site elsewhere in Montreal.
According to a Radio-Canada report, Tennis Canada has its eyes set on an existing baseball field in Jarry Park as part of the project. Concerns have been expressed by the Coalition des amis du parc Jarry (CAP) about the impending impact on the swimming pool, which is located next to the stadium.
Retractable roof for downpours
IGA Stadium is built roughly over the former ballpark where the Montreal Expos played beginning in 1969 until moving in 1977 to Olympic Stadium.
In the meantime, new developments such as climate change, which is believed to be the cause of torrential rain storms increasingly assailing major cities, have made it necessary to cover IGA Stadium with a retractable roof, Tennis Canada maintains. In recent years, important Tennis Canada events have been rained out by downpours.
“There are plenty of residents and community groups who are getting organized and I would like to know what our elected officials have in mind,” Marc Langlois, a representative of the Coalition des amis du parc Jarry, asked Borough Mayor Jean-François Lalonde during the public question period.
He continued, “I think it’s about time we stopped hearing that it’s a responsibility of the centre city. Because that park is used by the citizens of Parc Extension, by the citizens of Villeray, by those from Little Italy … It’s about time our elected officials pulled up their pants and took a position.”
‘A project that does not exist,’ Lalonde says
Responding, Mayor Lalonde contended that the borough had yet to receive any official notification from Tennis Canada about plans for the project. “I can only tell you for my part that I can’t take a position now for a project that does not exist,” he said.
While acknowledging that he was aware a firm of architects had been hired and started public consultations, Lalonde pledged to take action if the centre city decides to move ahead.
“If the service for large parks and the current municipal administration act in such a way that Tennis Canada remains on the site while proceeding with an expansion project, I would say to you that we will find the best way to protect the residents of Parc Extension and try to seek out the maximum for the citizens of Parc Extension, Villeray and all the users of the park,” Lalonde said.
Parc Extension city councillor Elvira Carhuallanqui said she hadn’t yet seen any documents related to the project. “I am waiting, and I am following very closely the evolution of this dossier, this project,” she said. “And I am making sure to represent the population of Parc Extension.”
Ongoing sanitation issue in Parc Ex
Also during question period, a Parc Extension resident got up to the microphone to complain about a waste management problem in the district. “We haven’t seen any improvements – on the contrary, the situation, especially in Parc Ex, has gotten worse,” said Maria Pantelopoulos.
“So, I’d like to – especially for Elvira who’s now the city councillor – make some recommendations and ask some questions.” She gave the following three suggestions:
- Fines for breaking sanitation laws, to be given out as rigorously as parking tickets “to change behavior,” said Pantelopoulos;
- Enforcement among landlords of housing occupancy laws, because population density is undermining sanitary requirements;
- And the creation of a citizens’ public consultation committee to help resolve the problem.
Responding, Carhuallanqui noted that sanitation has been an issue going back many years in Parc Extension. She said efforts to resolve it will be gradual.
“For certain, you won’t be seeing the results now, right away,” she added. “It’s something that takes time because we want to regulate problems in a way that’s lasting, not just for the immediate.”
