The concerted efforts of citizens and the borough of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie will finally make it possible to transform Gorilla Park into a veritable green space. The mineralized site will undergo redevelopment which should be completed in 2024.
The executive committee of the City of Montreal on Wednesday awarded a $10.3 million contract to Construction Deric for the development of a public space in the Marconi-Alexandra sector, in the quadrangle of Saint-Zotique, Saint- Urbain, Beaubien and avenue de l’Esplanade. The work includes soil rehabilitation, the construction of a shelter, the planting of trees and plants as well as an arrangement to retain rainwater. The project also includes a transitional development of Waverly Street. The construction site will begin next January for an inauguration in June 2024.
For Frances Foster, of the citizen group Friends of Gorilla Park, this announcement is the happy outcome of a long-term citizen mobilization. ” I am very happy. It represents almost 10 years of civic involvement and volunteering,” she commented.
The idea, she explains, is to recreate the somewhat “wild” atmosphere that characterized the site before the trees were felled in 2013.
tree felling
The Parc des Gorilles is the name that the citizens of the sector had given to this old wooded land that once belonged to Canadian Pacific (CP). In 2013, the Olymbec group, which had become the owner, had cut down all the trees there and had the gravel site, to the chagrin of the citizens.
A citizen mobilization followed, supported by the elected officials of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie. The citizens had tried to reclaim the space by installing flower boxes there, but Olymbec had quickly ordered them to remove their equipment.
In 2017, failing to acquire the land through negotiation, the City of Montreal finally carried out an expropriation. “Citizen mobilization could have fallen flat if we had not been really involved in the file from the start,” argues the mayor of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, François Limoges. “It’s really the landing of a common vision between the City, the borough and the citizens. »
It is in consultation with the citizens that the borough of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie developed its development plan. “It is a very mineralized space, in the heart of Marconi-Alexandra, in the institutional and industrial part”, explains the elected official. “It’s going to be an extraordinary green lung that we’re going to create. It’s not a grass driveway. It is a very interesting development from an environmental point of view. »
This project is part of the biodiversity master plan adopted by the borough, underlines Mr. Limoges. It takes a decisive step less than a month before the World Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which is to be held in Montreal from December 7.
The City will take advantage of the worksite to replace all lead entrances around the perimeter and bury the cable networks.