Montreal inaugurated its very first “piscinette”, an ephemeral swimming pool in a container, at Jos-Montferrand Park on Saturday. This is a first pilot project, the aim of which is to fight against heat islands, which could multiply in the coming years.
Posted at 1:31 p.m.
“The major heat waves are going to increase, so we wanted to find innovative solutions to provide citizens with a bit of freshness. If all goes well, the idea will really be to multiply this type of installation”, explains to The Press Sainte-Marie District Councilor Sophie Mauzerolle.
The first swimming pool was installed in Jos-Montferrand Park, at the corner of du Havre and Sainte-Catherine Est streets. An inauguration ceremony took place at the beginning of the afternoon, Saturday, in the company of elected officials and curious people who came to see the new swimming pool, which opened its doors after the fact. At the same time, the City plans to “animate” the park all summer long, with an artificial beach, artistic workshops created by the MU collective, yoga classes and even “food-trucks” for happy hours.
Measuring 40 square feet, the small pool, custom-designed in Canada, cost the City $50,000. “It’s more flexible and it costs less than digging a swimming pool or making a permanent infrastructure, that we know”, illustrates Mme Mauzerolle.
She hopes that the pilot project will be crowned with success, and that “swimming pools” will be able to emerge almost everywhere in the coming years, at a time when many citizens wish to “reclaim space”. “Perhaps we have neglected our insularity in the past. Montreal remains an island, and it is normal for citizens to be able to reclaim the space. […] And maybe projects like that can contribute to that,” she breathes.
The basic idea for the project was born during a mission by the mayoress, Valérie Plante, to New York, where there are already many such urban swimming pools. Mme Plante also visited the site of the swimming pool last week during the work. The plans for the new Jos-Montferrand swimming pool were designed by the Quebec urban design firm Vlan Paysages. The company was founded in 1999 by two landscape architects Micheline Clouard and Julie St-Arnault.
Bathe in the river?
Thursday, The Press reported that it might be possible to swim freely in the St. Lawrence River, in Lachine, as of next year. This is what the mayor of the district, Maja Vodanovic, hopes.
“Our last two years of water quality testing show that it’s really excellent. There are other tests to be done for the quality of the soil, but we don’t think we will have any problems because there has never been any construction there. Also, the water is very deep. We are really sure to get there, ”she said.
This new swimming area in the river would be located between René-Lévesque Park and the new waterfront park set up by the City to replace the Lachine marina.
“There is Lachine, but there is also Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve which is currently working on a project at Promenade-Bellerive park, and Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles which has developed its edges of shore. There is an appetite for all that, ”says Sophie Mauzerolle.
If in Quebec, a new harbor bath was inaugurated last week in the Louise basin, the future of a possible harbor bath in Montreal, at the Jacques-Cartier wharf, remains however nebulous. During the Big Splash, last Saturday, the City again argued that security is “questionable” at this location, due to currents and port activity.
In 2017, Valérie Plante’s party, Projet Montréal, promised to install a harbor bath in the Old Port of Montreal. In 2020, however, the City had to abandon the project, following the publication of new studies, according to which it would be too difficult to develop a port bath, given the activities of the port and the current in the sector. The quality of the water, deemed “good”, would not, however, be in question.