Some Plateau folks want the car back
Some folks in the Plateau don’t like Projet Montréal’s plan to block through traffic on Saint-Dominique to extend Parc Lahaie up to the door of Saint-Enfant-Jésus church. I’m not sure what they mean by détenteurs de commerces sur la rue Saint-Dominique because the street is not commercial in the area concerned. Seem the parishioners don’t like the change, although – reading between the lines – there are local businesspeople who may be behind this because they miss their free parking spots near the church steps.
Chris 12:38 on 2010/06/27 Permalink
Wow. That story gives absolutely no context — reading it, you’re led to think that the entire length of St. Dominique is going to be closed to cars and covered in grass for no good reason. It doesn’t even mention that the whole point of the project is to expand Lahaie Park.
KC 11:08 on 2010/06/28 Permalink
It’s a shame the Parc Lahaie project has led to a stand-off between the borough & the parishioners. Would that it had been otherwise. Lord knows Parc Lahaie has been needing a facelift for years. Any improvement is welcome. The parish, for its part, has roots going back to 1850, and the church building itself to 1858 — it’s one of the oldest and most significant monuments in all of the Plateau, and part of Parc Lahaie’s importance (it’s named for the founder of the parish, by the way) is its place in local history. Is there anything the borough could have done in order that the parish be a partner in the initiative and not an adversary? Hard to say, maybe not. Saint-Dominique Street is in the public domain, of course — but it’s also been parish turf for 150 years. This debate is only partly about access and parking. (Hint: starts with “R”, Aretha sang a song about it.)
Kate 19:05 on 2010/06/28 Permalink
I don’t think the park is so run down as all that. It’s not very big – there’s no room to add a playground or the like – and the trees are old. Granted, the sort of tidying-up that’s been done on D. Square could be done on Parc Lahaie, new benches and properly paved paths, but I wouldn’t like to see it changed too much.