Long-term plan announced for islands
Mayor Plante announced a new long-term plan for the islands of Parc Jean-Drapeau Wednesday. More trees and less cement, fewer parking spots, and river ferries from Montreal and the South Shore are in the plan. Here’s the official document.
La Presse has a headline emphasizing that, in ten years, cars will be forbidden. But that’s misleading: there will be parking lots near La Ronde and the Casino and somewhere near where the Jacques-Cartier crosses the island, so it’s not like motorists are banned.
Bill Binns 08:40 on 2021-04-15 Permalink
Would be great if she applied her “more trees and less cement” policy to La Fontaine park. Instead, she is spending millions to replace an underused, vandalized outdoor amphitheatre with another underused, soon to be vandalized outdoor amphitheatre.
Kate 10:40 on 2021-04-15 Permalink
Bill Binns, the Théâtre de la Verdure used to have a whole summer program, I know because I used to live fairly close by. Live theatre, movie screenings, dance performances, all kinds of things, and quite well attended. There were drawbacks – events could be rained out, and it’s near a marshy corner of the park pond that breeds mosquitoes – but it wasn’t underused in season.
Bill Binns 11:03 on 2021-04-15 Permalink
@Kate – Even under the most ambitious use scenarios, this chunk of former park will be chained up and unavailable to the public the vast majority of the time. I’m not against children’s theater but why does it have to displace scarce grass and trees? Same thing for the tennis courts which actually see far more use than the theater ever will but are still chained up and unavailable for something like 7 months a year. Worst of all is the baseball / softball diamond which in 5 years of going to LaFontaine twice a day, every day I have never once seen in use.
DeWolf 12:01 on 2021-04-15 Permalink
Given that the Théâtre de la Verdure opened in 1956, there’s a very good chance it has been around for longer than you’ve been alive, Bill. Rebuilding it isn’t displacing anything.
Also, Lafontaine Park will be progressively renovated between now and 2028.: https://www.realisonsmtl.ca/parclafontaine. The plan is, as you suggested, to increase the amount of vegetation.
Raymond Lutz 22:22 on 2021-04-15 Permalink
I wouldn’t bet on this, DeWolf: Mr. Binns comments are so reactionary (exploding knees, invading bikes, hatred of Québec Solidaire et j’en passe) he sounds from a past century or two! This said we share at least one interest: beautifully engineered cars. Spotted any Bugatti lately, Bill? A Bolide? Some Koenigsegg? 😎
Bill Binns 07:16 on 2021-04-16 Permalink
@Raymond Lutz – As I’ve said before, the fact that I stand out on this board as some sort of super arch conservative says more about the 15 or so regular commenters here than it does about me. I’m considered such a lefty in my former country that I could not safely discuss politics with people I worked with for 20 years. Now I work here in Montreal and it’s really not that much different. Most people are anti-criminal. Tons of people in this town are sick of the bikes or the idea that the city must be remade for them.
If opposing an unapologetically communist fringe political party with 3 seats is all that’s required to be a big bad conservative, QC must be just slightly to the left of Alberta.
I don’t know what you’re talking about regarding cars unless you stumbled across my Flickr account or something.