Rigaud applies for change to town status

The municipality of Rigaud would now like to be known as the town of Rigaud, having outgrown the term “municipality,” says Mayor Hans Gruenwald Jr.

At its last meeting, municipal council approved an application to the provincial government to make the change, and Gruenwald hopes to see it happen as quickly as possible.

Municipalities can be called towns in Quebec once they have more than 5,000 residents, Gruenwald said. In 2011, Rigaud’s population was 7,346.

To his knowledge, only two other municipalities that would be eligible haven’t made the switch.

“It’s time for us to make the change,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, the municipality is approaching the 20th anniversary of the fusion of the old town of Rigaud with the municipality of Ste- Madeleine- de- Rigaud, so the timing is good.

Rigaud will also be building a new town hall, firehall and public works building in the next few years, all needing new signage, so changing the name before they’re built was an obvious consideration, Gruenwald added.

As for the projects, announced in October as part of the Rigaud 2020 project, Gruenwald said council received 10 tenders for the new town hall, 10 for the new firehall and 12 for the new public works building.

“And they all came in well under the estimated amounts,” he said.

The new town hall and firehall were slated to cost $ 2.9 million each, while the public works building is estimated at $ 1.6 million.

The mayor said the potential name change, together with the new buildings, are all positive signs for the municipality.

“Slowly but surely, some of the confidence is coming back to this town,” he said. “The last 10 years have been sort of dormant, and now a big, positive giant has been awoken.”