Closed for three years, the Baldwin swimming pool, located in the Plateau-Mont-Royal, will be rebuilt. But due to heavy contamination of the ground where a dump once stood, the pool will be moved to the northwest section of Baldwin Park.
The borough has conducted several studies since the closure of the dilapidated swimming pool in 2021 with the aim of rebuilding it on the same site, at the corner of Fullum and Rachel streets. However, the costs of the project turned out to be too high. “This pool is on the site of a former dump. Not only is the soil contaminated, but it is loose. So that posed really significant technical challenges,” explained the mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal, Luc Rabouin, in an interview on Tuesday at the Duty. “We were presented with budget estimates that didn’t make sense, much higher than what we initially estimated, with a high level of risk. »
This level of risk hinted at further cost increases in the future, he said, adding that the bill would exceed $10 million or even $15 million.
Faced with this impasse, the borough explored other solutions, including relocating the pool to a less contaminated site. His choice fell on the site northwest of Baldwin Park, at the corner of Fullum and Terrasse-Guindon streets. One of the two soccer fields there will be moved further south, where the swimming pool used to be. “The conclusion of the soil analyzes is that the contamination is much lower there, but above all, we are not above the old dump. So it’s much safer and the level of risk is much lower if we do the project there,” says Luc Rabouin.
The elected official, who intended to announce this decision during the borough council meeting on Tuesday evening, was unable to specify the cost of the project. Given the inflation and the explosion of construction costs since the COVID-19 pandemic, the central city – which was willing to assume a maximum amount of 7 million for the initial project – agreed to review the sharing expenses, argues Luc Rabouin.
The elected official admits that the residents of the sector will not all be delighted to have a public swimming pool in front of their home. “It was either that or no pool,” he said. “And for us, there was no question that there was no swimming pool. […] It’s a pool, not a bar. We must make decisions for the collective interest. It was the only place we could put it. […] We couldn’t spend 25 to 30 million. »
A call for tenders will be launched in the fall for plans and specifications. The construction work will be done in 2025 for an inauguration of the new swimming pool in the summer of 2026.
Lack of communication
Citizens of the sector, who have been waiting for the reopening of the swimming pool for years and have mobilized, criticize the Rabouin administration for its lack of transparency in this file. “Citizens were not consulted and are faced with a fait accompli,” laments Jovanny Savoie. “It all happened behind closed doors. We are not for. We are not against. We seek information. We want to have our voice in it. »
His spouse, Julie Thériault, believes that the social acceptability of the move is not certain. Neighborhood residents will have to deal with the presence of a public swimming pool instead of a soccer field, she points out. “That’s why we talk about consulting the population and reassuring them before making announcements,” she said.
The Plateau-Mont-Royal has only one other outdoor pool, that of Laurier Park, which is already very busy.
Several Montreal parks, including Baldwin Park, are located on former dumps. In 2016, the City of Montreal published a map of former dumps on which parks have been laid out and residences have been built. She maintained at the time that the risks to the health of citizens were “very low”.
Owners in the area had also filed a lawsuit against the City, accusing it of having failed to notify residents of the risks that these contaminated soils represented. In 2020, however, they were dismissed by the court, judge Yves Poirier having considered that the danger had not been demonstrated and that the value of the buildings had not suffered.