Sherbrooke Councillor proposes Public / Private Partnership for Exhibition Centre Man arrested for residential bombing

Following the City of Sherbrooke’s failure to get the necessary funding to develop the CERAS exhibition centre on Parc St, municipal councillor and Chair of the Sport and Outdoor Committee, Pierre Tremblay, is proposing to expand the vocation of the Sherbrooke Exhibition Centre.

The City had asked for $3 million from the Quebec government, half of the $ 6 million required to adapt the CERAS centre to meet the needs of the many sports associations including gymnastics, cheerleading, fencing and judo that use the centre.. For example, the Sherbrooke Gymnastics Club alone has more than 1,400 participants, the third largest sports association in Sherbrooke after soccer and hockey.

"For me, it is clear that the City alone cannot fund the $6 million needed for redevelopment in addition to assuming the annual operating costs. We have to look for other solutions, and that's what's needed," Tremblay said.

The councillor explained that the situation was very worrying for sports associations that find themselves without adequate practice spaces. "When I think about the different possibilities and find that the exhibition center is clearly underutilized, there is something to wonder about in the optimization of our infrastructure. Taxpayers have paid almost $ 25 million for this building and it is unthinkable and unacceptable to continue to spend huge amounts of money on new equipment, while a building on the fairgrounds has an occupancy rate of just 50 per cent per year."

Tremblay proposes broadening the mission of the centre by making it multifunctional. "Obviously, the mission of the fair center must continue and even grow,” he says. “With a minimum of creativity and daring, I am confident that our services would be able to find a way to optimize the use of this important piece of municipal infrastructure and at the same time meet the needs of the sports clubs affected by the current situation.

Tremblay concluded by reiterating his opinion that the management of the exhibition

The individual accused of placing a chlorine bomb in a residential mailbox has been arrested thanks to information given to police from the public. The 20-year-old man has been charged with mischief and was released on a promise to appear in court.

Sherbrooke Police spokesman Martin Carrier explained that the young man, who was arrested and questioned

centre should be entrusted to a public / private partnership. "In my opinion, the centre’s function is one of specialized business activities and should be entrusted to people who have the expertise and network of contacts in this industry,” he said. ”As for the sporting aspect, on Friday night, is not known to police.

This is the second time in as many years that the victims have found a similar device in their mailbox.

Police would not say if the two events are related but are looking at the facts of this year, keeping details of the earlier incident in mind.

On Friday, around 9:45 p.m. a chlorine bomb exploded on Pasteur Street near Montcalm School, causing damage to the entrance of the house.

I think it could be supported by our Sports Department. Also, I intend to present a formal request at the next municipal council meeting addressed to our service departments so that this hypothesis can be rigorously examined and considered ".