Downtown green space ripped up

City plans park next door to replace Jardin Domtar

A worker was using a backhoe to rip up a rare downtown Montreal green space on Friday, but the city said it will set up a new one in a neighbouring parking lot next year.

The start of the demolition is a prelude to the construction of a condo/hotel tower that will replace the Jardin Domtar. Sandwiched between President-Kennedy Ave. and de Maisonneuve Blvd., just west of Bleury St., it was built by Domtar but open to the public.

Montreal has said it will make up for the Jardin Domtar with a new public green space just east of Jardin Domtar, in an area currently used as a city parking lot.

The lot, used for storage during the summer festival season, is on land bounded by de Maisonneuve, President-Kennedy, Bleury and Jeanne-Mance St. Both spaces are in the Quartier des Spectacles.

Last week, Mayor Valérie Plante confirmed the new park will be built, announcing the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre will hold consultations on a design this year.

The city does not know yet when the new park will open, but a temporary park will be set up next year, said city spokesperson Marilyne Laroche Corbeil.

She said the city will not know the cost or opening date of the permanent park until a design has been chosen.

Domtar sold Jardin Domtar to Groupe Canvar, which plans to build a skyscraper there.

Stung by criticism, the two companies have offered to contribute to the construction of the new park, but Laroche Corbeil said the amount can’t be revealed because negotiations are ongoing.

The city parking lot had been promised to the McCord Museum, which had planned to build a new $150-million home there. Montreal said it’s looking for another possible location for the McCord.