Lacmégantic inaugurates space for memories
When a runaway tanker train derailed in Lac-mégantic on July 6, 2013, killing 47, Julie Morin felt powerless to deal with the grief overwhelming the community.
Seven years later, Morin, now the town’s mayor, says residents’ collective efforts to rebuild the shattered town have been helping them move forward.
“Helplessness, I think, is a very difficult feeling,” she said Sunday.
“Through different projects, citizens, all working in their own fields, have been able to reclaim their town and feel that they are contributing to rebuild it.”
On Monday, residents of the town of under 6,000 will gather with a small number of dignitaries to inaugurate a public space in memory of those who died in the disaster.
The Espace Mémoire, designed by architects Pierre Thibault and Jérôme Lapierre, is on the site of the former Musi-café, where patrons had been enjoying a night of live music before the train — carrying crude oil — derailed and exploded at 1:15 a.m.
“Thirty of the victims were at the Musi-café that night, and the others were nearby,” Morin said.
“For the town and for residents, it was out of the question to rebuild anything there,” she added. “It was always clear to everyone that this space would become a unique place where our memories would live on.”
The inauguration, planned for 11 a.m., will be on a smaller scale than originally planned because of COVID-19 restrictions, Morin said. However, it will be livestreamed on the town’s Facebook page.
At noon, the bells of Ste-agnès church will toll in honour of the victims. Freight service on the rail line through Lac-mégantic will be cancelled for the day.
On Saturday, the Quebec government announced that work on a 12.8-kilometre railway bypass to ensure the town is no longer in danger of a derailment would start in 2021, as scheduled. Quebec will contribute 40 per cent of the project’s total cost, estimated at $133 million, with the federal government shouldering the rest.
“It’s good news,” said Morin, adding that her administration has been working on a daily basis to ensure work on the project progresses on schedule.
“The train still passes there every day, every night. The bypass is really a priority.”
It will be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, Morin said.
Lac-mégantic’s population dropped from 5,954 in 2011 to 5,647 in 2016, according to census figures. But Morin said local efforts to attract residents are starting to pay off.
The regional municipality of Le Granit has launched a campaign to attract 2,025 new residents by 2025 to offset a labour shortage besetting local industries, many of which are involved in the manufacture of lumber products.
About three-quarters of the downtown core, most of which was destroyed and heavily contaminated by the disaster, has been rebuilt, Morin said. In August, a 72-room modular hotel will be erected. Housing is also being built, to bring back residents to the once-lively town centre.
However, the Musi-café, now relocated to a new commercial district built after the disaster, has still not reopened because of the pandemic and bureaucratic delays, said owner Yannick Gagné.
The construction of the bypass, and the acquittal two years ago of three former railway employees who were charged with criminal negligence in connection with the tragedy, have also helped residents move on, Morin said.
“The wave of solidarity from all Quebecers, from across Canada and around the world acted as a balm” on residents’ suffering, she added.
“I would say that after seven years, we’ve been able to turn the page to a certain extent and to look to the future.”