Dog owners from Outremont and the surrounding area are worried about the future of their dog park, threatened by the repair of the Rockland overpass.
Users of the Mali park – located right next to the concrete structure – demonstrated with their animals in front of the town hall on Monday in order to be heard by the municipal council. They also got more than 3,500 people to sign a petition.
The construction site, which should open in 2026, will see a complete redevelopment of the sector, the City warned several months ago. The park currently benefits from several dozen mature trees and a circular track that allows the animals to run.
“We are going to fight to the end to maintain this Mali park,” Outremont mayor Laurent Desbois told the demonstrators. The elected official – who is part of the opposition to Montreal City Hall – criticizes the Plante administration for not including his borough in the preparatory discussions.
Robert Beaudry, who is carrying the file within the Plante administration, made a commitment to the demonstrators that the dog park will remain the same size after the construction of the viaduct.
“The commitment we have is to have an unfragmented space in the sector near Mali Park. The geometry could be different,” explained Mr. Beaudry. “For planning reasons, for infrastructure reasons, for security reasons, it could change in terms of its form. »
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” replied Geneviève de Grandpré, of the Mali Dog Park Association. “We are scalded in this case. »