I want to add my voice as a simple citizen to those of urban planners (letter to Duty of May 29) and that of Lise Bissonnette, who are indignant and who denounce what Bibliothèque et Archives nationaux du Québec (BAnQ) is preparing to do: sell the land adjacent to the Grande Bibliothèque to Hydro-Québec, which is seeking a location to build a new electrical substation. For those who do not know the area, it is a large green space at the corner of Ontario and Berri streets, to the southwest, which brings a little calm, serenity and magic in a concrete environment. . I often go to the Grande Bibliothèque, and each time, I say to myself: what joy is this great emptiness which is in fact a fullness, a rest for the eyes, a breath, a breathing, where we can sit for a few moments to look at the gardens, read the notices on the plants found there, turn your back on the bus station and rest for a little while! Wanting to fill this space at all costs with a building, however architecturally sought-after, will cause this island of rest for the eyes and the mind to disappear forever. It is an area adjacent to the old bus station which is dying, at rue Saint-Denis, at UQAM, at rue Sainte-Catherine, at place Émilie-Gamelin. Is there no one who has enough vision to design this whole as a whole and make it a large integrated space, a beautiful space, a space that would enhance the area, and not a juxtaposition of buildings designed separately which have no connection with each other and ignore the bigger picture? I dare to hope that, in a final burst, BAnQ will abandon the sale and Hydro-Québec will pull itself together.
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