Remains of famous rides from La Ronde and Expo 67, such as the Minirail and the Pitoune, lie on the grounds of the Montreal amusement park like an open-air landfill.
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“It’s really shameful, it reminds me of the abandoned Chernobyl voyages,” denounces Dinu Bumbaru, director of policy at the organization Héritage Montréal.
On land, inaccessible to the public but visible from the Jacques Cartier Bridge, the spectacle is harrowing.
Minirail carriages lie jumbled among boxes and other remains of rides. The train that circled the park was quietly dismantled last year, after sixty years of existence.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENIS TAILLEFER A carriage of the iconic Minirail remains abandoned on the ground. PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENIS TAILLEFER
In one corner you can also see logs from the famous pitoune stacked on top of each other. The ride was put into storage in 2017, fifty years after it was unveiled at the opening of the amusement park beloved by Montrealers.
At the top right of the photo, stacked tree trunks of the famous Pitoune. PHOTO PROVIDED BY DENIS TAILLEFER
Not fancy
For Friends of Expo 67 founder Julie Bélanger, the situation says a lot about the maintenance of the park, which is managed by the American company Six Flags but owned by the city of Montreal.
“There are all sorts of things in there that don’t look in good condition, I find that sad,” complains the Expo enthusiast, who has already tried in vain to buy a block of Pitoune.
The spectacle also saddens Roger Laroche, a historian specializing in international exhibitions.
“We see a lack of concern about preserving something,” complains the man, who at 13 is also one of the youngest employees on the site.
“It denies the legacy of Expo 67. We are giving up the idea of making it a family site.” “But that was the original idea, to make it a place where the family can come together,” he criticizes.
Photo Martin Chevalier
“Workplace”
The land is not an open dump, but a “workspace,” defends La Ronde.
“We recycle parts from old rides that are used for something else if we need parts for the haunted house or parts for other rides,” explains Marie-Pier Haineault, communications manager.
She states that the pitoune logs on the ground are not the original pieces from the Expo, but are from the 2000s.
La Ronde is in the process of creating an area dedicated to Expo 67 in the former Minirail station, where a train will be displayed. A structure from Pitoune has also been preserved, she points out.
“It is not possible to keep everything, but we keep as much as possible,” she concludes.
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