Both Montreal and Varennes would like to see Île Ste-Thérèse become a park. This piece says it’s been tried before, but the last attempt must be more than 20 years ago because I don’t remember it ever being mentioned during the time I’ve been blogging.
I did ask once whether anyone knew what the deal was with the island – it’s bigger than Nuns’ Island, bigger than the aggregate of Jean-Drapeau park and, if the whole thing became a park, it would be bigger than Mount Royal or Cap St‑Jacques parks – but that was in a previous recension of the blog and I don’t have the replies handy.
On Google Maps aerial view, about two thirds of the island is agricultural, and the piece says the land belongs to the province, which rents it to a farmer. One question to ask is whether we’d lose valuable farmland close to the city if this plan proceeds. Another is how much of it would end up paved over for parking. A lot of the non-plowed area seems to be wetlands, and would they be left as is, as a nature preserve?
Update: Wednesday, Radio-Canada calls the idea a parc écotouristique.
Blork 23:09 on 2021-09-07 Permalink
I doubt very much that it would become a highly developed park, given its location and that the only way to get there would likely be by boat. More likely it would be sort of a “wild” park with a few beaches and hiking/cycling trails, and maybe some camping. Possibly a sort of douchebaggy marina/beach as the most developed part, and even that would be small.
It would be a shame if the agricultural land were lost.
Look at the Boucherville islands. They have agriculture, camping, cycling/hiking, and even a goddamn golf course. But you can drive to there. Happily, parking lots take up only a small amount of space. Eliminate car trippers entirely and you will most def not have a busy urbanized park.
MarcG 08:47 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
If that agriculture is just more corn and soy (which is what it looks like from heaven) I wouldn’t consider it a big loss. This is what a small, diversified farm growing food for humans looks like https://goo.gl/maps/xchYs75TMuDBXAXf7.
Kate 09:26 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
Interesting. So somebody’s making some kind of profit on that island by growing corn or soy – it’s worth it to bring over farm equipment and people, presumably, to cultivate and harvest, and all done by boat.
Actually, one option for the park would be to keep some part of it as an organic farm, doing more varied crops than they’re growing now.
Another question occurs to me: it looks like there are few trees on the whole island. Were there never trees? Or were they all chopped down to create farmland, probably a century or more ago?
Kevin 10:14 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
It’s been five years since the provincial government started expropriating people from their properties on the island. Some left, but a couple dozen people have court dates next year. In some cases, they’ve had properties in their family for more than a century.
MarcG 10:14 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
The footprint of the “farm” is actually quite small and since all the tilling, planting, harvesting, spraying, etc is done by driving trucks around, you don’t need a lot of people. Someone sent their drone around the island and took a ton of great 360 photos. https://goo.gl/maps/RWDXHA16S2Kq7DFj6
Kate 11:05 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
Those are nice, MarcG, thank you.
You would think they could allow those folks with cabins along the waterfront to keep them, even if some of the land becomes a park. Consider Île de la Visitation park, which is smaller, but contains about a dozen houses that must have been grandfathered in.
Kevin, that’s sort of sad. Yes, people would like a park, but if I owned land that had been in my family for so long, I’d certainly fight to keep it.
JS 11:27 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
It’s weird that the La Presse article is silent regarding the Boucherville islands park, which is so close by that it probably feels insulted. It has a tunnel to Montreal and a bridge to the south shore and seasonal ferry service from Montreal and from the south shore. Most of it is reserved for farmland, and there’s also a golf course, a hotel, and something that’s probably a water treatment facility, but there’s an orientation centre, education exhibits, etc. There’s probably there more wildlife than on the farm-only Ste-Therese.
And speaking of underappreciated, less accessible parks nearby, Iles Boinfoin, Aigle, Bois Blanc, and a little further down river, Beauregard, are already incorporated into the Hochelaga Archipelago Nature Preserve: http://naturedestinations.ca/destinations/hochelaga-archipelago
(And what’s the story with all the houses on Ste-Therese facing Montreal? Do they have electricity and plumbing? Do they pay property taxes? Will they be grandfathered in like the houses on Ile de la Visitation?)
Kate 15:51 on 2021-09-08 Permalink
JS, the Îles de Boucherville is a provincial (“national”) park, so it’s possible they put it in a different conceptual category. Although from what’s said above, it seems clear it’s Quebec that’s been trying to acquire Île Ste‑Thérèse, so who knows.