The merchant administration defends itself from neglecting the Jardin Jean-Paul-l’Allier, in the Saint-Roch district, while recognizing that the repair of its fountain will take “a few years”.
“The park, currently, is not abandoned,” said Mayor Bruno Marchand on Tuesday during a press activity.
He recognizes that the fountain has reached the end of its useful life, but believes that the general situation of the park is not as problematic as its opponents say it.
Photo STEVENS LEBLANC
“The garden, it is still in bloom, it is beautiful, it is well maintained. But there are portions that deserve repair, and we will do it, ”he says.
The basin and the waterfall have been out of use since spring, revealed a few days ago The sun.
Citizens have deplored issues of graffiti, squatting and broken furniture within the park.
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Several million
The restoration of the waterfall is not an easy task and will cost “at least several million [de dollars]”, According to Mr. Marchand.
“It is certain that it is not for a few years [qu’on la reverra en activité]. You have to give yourself time to coordinate work related to the tramway in this sector, to see their impacts on the garden, ”he agreed.
Recall that the future treatise must circulate on the rue de la Couronne. The tunnel outing of the parliamentary hill will be built nearby.
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The mayor wants to give back to this space his “letters of nobility”, but not at any cost, to prevent “it costs the citizen’s double”.
«[Les travaux à la fontaine] will be made, but we will do them in a sequence that will ensure that, for the taxpayer, the citizen, we will not redo them three times, “he argued.
The garden was appointed in 2017 in honor of Jean-Paul L’Allier, who was mayor of Quebec for 16 years.
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“There is no desire to shade in memory” of the latter, “a great mayor of Quebec”, added Mr. Marchand.
“We are going to have a park at the height of the man to whom we dedicated it […] But for which we are going to do the work in the right order. ”
Although the tram will be delivered in 2033, the work will start well before, he recalled.
The skeptical opposition
The head of the opposition at the Town Hall, Claude Villeneuve, said he was skeptical that the tram project really delays the repair of the fountain. He deplores the view currently offered to visitors and believes that the mayor “trivializes the situation”.
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“We cannot accept that the name of Jean-Paul L’Allier is for a few years associated with a park which is abandoned like that,” he said.
