Mount Royal Park will be expanded by three hectares with the transfer to the City of land on the site of the former Royal Victoria Hospital. In addition, approximately 290 parking spaces located around the Smith House will be removed and greened.
The administration of Valérie Plante announced Monday morning that three lots located behind the former Royal Victoria Hospital, including parking lots, will be transferred to the City. As the Allan Memorial Institute and the Montreal Neurological Institute are still in operation and use the parking lots, these will be in operation.
The transfer of these lands will take place over a period of 5 to 15 years. The wooded area there will be transferred to the City in 2023, the West parking lot in 2033 and the East parking lot in 2036. Eventually, a new entrance to Mount Royal Park will be built.
According to the City, this is the largest expansion of this iconic park in 100 years.
For their part, the parking lots located near the Smith House will be greened in a proportion of 40%, which will entail the removal of approximately 290 of the current 725 parking spaces. The City estimates that the parking lots located at the top of the mountain have an occupancy rate of 50 to 55%.
The clearing of the former Smith property will be redeveloped with a garden for pollinators. The cost of this component is estimated at $19 million and development work will begin in the summer of 2024.
Finally, as part of COP15, which is taking place in Montreal these days, the City will proceed with massive planting in the wooded area of Côte Placide. Nearly 200 trees are mentioned in tribute to the nations represented at COP15 with native tree species such as sugar maple, bitternut hickory and hackberry.
At the same time, the City has undertaken to close the informal paths which accelerate the degradation of the undergrowth. In 2020, Mount Royal Park had 46 kilometers of informal trails, a number that was reduced to 37 kilometers in 2022.
Further details will follow.