Montreal officially recommends the demolition of the Verdun Natatorium pavilion. The heritage building suffers from critical structural problems.
“The recommended scenario is one of rebuilding the bathers’ pavilion,” declared the mayor of the district, Marie-Andrée Mauger, during an information evening Tuesday evening.
“When I was offered a reconstruction scenario, I did not accept it,” she said. His first choice was rather catering. However, it was impossible to preserve the majority of the building’s components. “The reconstruction scenario is the scenario of last resort. »
The bathers’ pavilion, where the changing rooms and showers are located, will be demolished, but the Natatorium site will remain. “The outdoor public swimming pool and the swimming experience are in no way called into question,” specifies the mayor.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Aerial view of the Natatorium
The Verdun Natatorium was inaugurated in 1940 and was then the largest outdoor swimming pool in Canada. It welcomed between 50,000 and 70,000 bathers each summer. Several generations of Montrealers have childhood memories linked to these places. The Art Deco pavilion was built at the same time as the Verdun Auditorium.
In 2017, work was begun on the building by the City of Montreal, in order to make it accessible to swimmers with reduced mobility. However, the work was quickly stopped the same year: worrying cracks were discovered in the concrete structure, particularly in the changing rooms and in the ceiling of the ground floor. Supports had to be installed.
The building has since been closed.