The new Marquise de la Plaza Saint-Hubert, paid for very dearly, should not require any snow removal. The City will ultimately have to pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to have it cleared by hand, according to municipal documents.
Officials realized last winter that the accumulation of snow and ice on the brand new structure could slip and risk “causing serious injury or even death” to passers-by.
“Contrary to the initial premise, the marquise does not hold the snow in place,” they stoically noted in a document from the Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie borough council.
As a result, the borough had to have the marquee cleared of snow urgently at the end of last February, during the first warmth of winter. A “delicate operation” and costly because it is impossible to get workers on the structure, which forces them to shovel snow from nacelles at night. Only plastic or Teflon tools can be used to avoid damaging the large glass plates that make up the roof of the canopy.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY A CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE
In this photo sent to Press, we can see an accumulation of snow on the awning of the Plaza Saint-Hubert.
The new marquee cost taxpayers $ 22 million.
Until a long-term solution is found, “it will result in significant costs,” according to the document, which justified a transfer of $ 90,000 to pay for two snow removal operations in 2021.
The marquee should remain in place for the next 50 years, between rue de Bellechasse and rue Jean-Talon.
The City of Montreal is in fact in a call for tenders to find the contractor who will ensure the contract for this winter.
A large amount of hanging snow
The old Marquise de la Plaza, in place since 1984, was so steep that snow and water could not cling to it. But it had turned into a pigeon nest and was nearing the end of its useful life.
The City also wanted to renovate the commercial artery of La Petite-Patrie, whose heyday was far behind it.
A first repair project, announced by Denis Coderre in 2017, was ruled out when Valérie Plante took office. In 2018, his administration unveiled the first CGIs of the new marquee, an almost flat structure (with an angle of just 2%) and visually lighter than the previous one.
In addition, the structure would not need to be cleared of snow, since it can support up to 5 meters of snow, assured Montreal during a presentation to the media in March 2018.
This is also what the municipal services had explained to Mike Parente, president of the local Commercial Development Corporation (SDC). In interview with The Press, he indicated that he doubted this claim and expressed his reservations to the borough as to the possibility of snow accumulating all winter without problem on the awning. He said he did not get a satisfactory answer.
At the end of February, “a blade of snow that overflows[ait] of the Marquise a good two and a half feet “threatened to collapse, described Mr. Parente. “I was the one who made the calls to firefighters and public security. There are also residents, people in the street ”who have called, he said.
“There is a committee that was set up to study the most effective way to respond to this situation,” added Mr. Parente, in an interview.
Silent firms
The new marquise at Plaza Saint-Hubert was designed by Chevalier Morales Architects, Régis Côté et Associés, Latéral and Stantec.
In an email, the latter limited itself to indicating that it had worked “from the conceptual preliminary design study, carried out prior to our mandate and based on the parameters determined by the project stakeholders”. The other companies did not respond to the request for The Press.
For City officials, the diagnosis is clear: “the original design of the awning does not keep the snow in place, but […] rather, it favors a sliding of snow / ice piles during warm weather that can cause serious injuries to passers-by and potentially even death, ”they wrote in a document intended for local elected officials in Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie.
The City paid 22 million to the firm Eurovia for the manufacture and installation of the awning, a much larger sum than expected. The Plaza repair project cost about $ 55 million in total.
“In all its winter operations, the Borough of Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie is proactive in its desire to impeccably maintain the infrastructures on its territory, whether it be public roads, parks, or the Marquise de la Plaza Saint-Hubert, ”said the new borough mayor, François Limoges, in a statement sent by email.
“We want to make sure that the Plaza – an important commercial artery in the borough – is attractive and dynamic,” he continued. This is why we have awarded a snow removal contract to ensure the comfort and safety of users who frequent the Plaza. ”