The 15 kilometers of public banks give headaches to the leaders of Verdun. Outside the supervised urban beach, they carry their share of risks, as evidenced by the drownings of recent years. The borough admits to being powerless in the face of those who go swimming there.
On June 23, a 22-year-old young man drowned in the St. Lawrence River, in an area near the urban beach of Verdun. On June 8, 2022, the body of a man was recovered from the same waters. On September 2, 2021, a 30-year-old man who was fishing in L’Île-des-Sœurs drowned. This type of drama is repeated, year after year, in the riverside borough.
These events all took place outside the supervised swimming area made available to citizens by the borough. “We have invested millions of dollars in Verdun beach,” said Verdun Mayor Marie-Andrée Mauger in an interview. The coastline has been organized according to a certain safe slope. We made like a dike to cut off the current. »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Even though access to water is easy in the borough, swimming is supervised only at Verdun beach.
The borough maintains that it does not have the authority to prohibit swimming outside this zone. “Swimming is at our own risk,” adds the mayor. Simply by looking at the river, we see that the current is important. It should not be assumed that the coastline is in a constant descent. It is a descent that is sometimes very steep. »
The mayor believes that knowing how to swim is not enough to swim in the river. According to her, it is necessary to show “caution and humility” in front of this large body of water of which “we cannot see the bottom and whose currents we cannot necessarily anticipate”.
Bathe at all costs
Two weeks ago, The Press went to the field, to the urban beach of Verdun. Bathing was exceptionally prohibited there as a preventive measure, due to sewer backups caused by heavy rains the day before. It is also a water quality concern that caused the closure of the Jean-Doré beach announced on Wednesday. Its reopening is scheduled for Saturday.
In Verdun, the poor water quality did not deter the most determined swimmers. As we noticed during our visit, they settled just outside the supervised area.
” It is so hot ! Of course, I would have preferred to swim at the beach, because there are fewer rocks, but it’s better than nothing,” said Éléonore Maltais de Lalonde, who was cooling off in the water with her friends.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Gabriel Gallindo and his children were swimming outside the supervised area at Verdun beach since swimming was prohibited there two weeks ago.
Verdunois and father of two children, Gabriel Gallindo knows the beach well. But as swimming was prohibited there, he had moved away from the monitored area with his sons so as not to be reprimanded. “I’m going to stay a few minutes and then take them to the pool. »
For the mayor, ignoring poor water quality or being reckless is a matter of judgment. “At some point, you can’t take people by the hand. »
An aquatic center that delays… and delays
Swimming lessons rhyme with drowning prevention. But in Verdun, as in many places in Quebec, finding a place to learn to swim is no small feat.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Unlike Verdun, which is still waiting for its own, Rosemont acquired a new aquatic center last year.
Currently, the borough of 70,000 has only one indoor pool offering swimming lessons. Located at the Beurling Academy, it can only accommodate 75 bathers. And it’s closed for the summer.
Citizens have been waiting since 2008 for the construction of an aquatic center that could offer its share of swimming lessons. The borough had then announced the start of construction of a building with two pavilions, but it never saw the light of day.
In 2018, the administration of Valérie Plante announced the construction of two aquatic centers, one in Pierrefonds-Roxboro for 2023, as well as a second in Verdun in 2024. But to date, still nothing.
These are big projects, very expensive, underlines in an interview the mayor of Verdun, Marie-Andrée Mauger. “The City of Montreal, with its aquatic facilities program, is tackling one project at a time. We have finished the Rosemont aquatic center, we continue with Pierrefonds-Roxboro. Verdun is in the running for the next project. »
Find the right location
Marie-Andrée Mauger ensures that the borough is “thoroughly” in the planning of the aquatic center. However, for the moment, the exact location of the project has not yet been chosen.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Marie-Andrée Mauger, Mayor of Verdun
The challenge is to find municipal land that has an area of at least 3,000 square meters, that is near major population centers and that is accessible by active and public transportation.
Marie-Andrée Mauger, Mayor of Verdun
There aren’t a whole lot of options. And ultimately, you will inevitably have to make a choice between Verdun and L’Île-des-Sœurs.
“In L’Île-des-Sœurs, there is a lack of services in several respects, and sports and recreation are part of it, explains the solidarity deputy for Verdun, Alejandra Zaga Mendez, reached by telephone. Since my election, I have been working on a construction project for a third school on L’Île-des-Sœurs, primary and secondary, inside which we could build a swimming pool. »
For the moment, the project is put on hold, specifies the deputy.
“Of course it’s a long project, but it’s making progress,” says Marie-Andrée Mauger. In Verdun, we are fortunate to have four outdoor pools. It’s really on the indoor aquatic facilities that we have a big challenge. »
While waiting for the construction of an indoor swimming pool, Verdun residents must opt for summer courses in outdoor swimming pools, or else turn to other boroughs.
“We tried to give priority to residents of Verdun in the swimming pools of the adjacent boroughs of LaSalle and Sud-Ouest, specifies Marie-Andrée Mauger. But these indoor aquatic infrastructures are already at maximum capacity. »