Nearly 200 children, parents and coaches from the Saint-Léonard district demonstrated in front of Montreal City Hall during Monday night’s city council meeting.
Their demand: that the city intervene in the matter of the dome of the Hébert Stadium; a structure installed in winter for about 15 years.
However, the Saint-Léonard district recently decided not to build the dome for budgetary reasons. A decision that applies from this year.
Almost 700 young people from Saint-Léonard and East Montreal benefit from this sports facility in winter.
The cry from the demonstrators’ hearts seems to have been heard. The city of Montreal is asking the borough to rebuild the structure this winter.
“The City of Montreal is at the forefront and we want to support young people from Saint-Léonard and throughout East Montreal,” said Caroline Bourgeois, responsible for sport and recreation at the City of Montreal. But at this time we cannot disadvantage a local population who have no other options. For this reason, I ask Saint-Léonard to reconsider his decision.
The city and the demonstrators criticize that the district made this decision without prior notice.
This unilateral decision impacts all young people in East Montreal. They had to be moved at the last minute, the sports manager added.
For its part, the district justifies its decision by citing a significant increase in the costs of assembling the dome.
Construction and dismantling costs rose from $290,000 to $464,000 this year, an increase of 60%, said Dominic Perri, councilor for the Saint-Léonard-Ouest district. In addition, heating costs $150,000 per year. Saint-Léonard no longer has the means to do so.
An argument that does not convince Sam Macri, treasurer of the Saint-Léonard football association, which benefits from the installation.
There is a shortfall of $200,000. You can’t leave 700 children behind without playing for that amount, explained Mr. Macri. [Dominic Perri et Caroline Bourgeois] came to a meeting with the protesters on Monday evening and told us that they would work together to find a solution. We’re happy about it, but it’s politics.
In previous years, the installation of the dome began in mid-November to allow the use of the Hébert Stadium at the end of the month.
The permanent dome solution
At the time of writing, the city and district had not yet reached an agreement on installing the dome next November. And when asked about possible solutions, both parties discuss a permanent dome.
The Central City must live up to its responsibilities because, I repeat, it is a dome with regional reach in which the majority of players come from the east of Montreal and not just from Saint-Léonard, reasoned Dominic Perri, from the district of Saint- Leonard. It would be very unfair to charge the taxpayers of Saint-Léonard for a dome with regional impact. We used to do this, but now it’s no longer possible. The solution is a permanent dome.
When it comes to financing such a building, the district and the city center blame each other.
We have already put money into our budget to work on a permanent dome project. “We will continue our search for partners,” explained Caroline Bourgeois. There was $4.5 million on the table. Yes, costs have increased. Now let’s look at what we can do to improve financing.
The city’s sports manager admits the permanent dome won’t solve the problem in the short term.
We have to give ourselves time to work. “We can’t cut service like that,” Caroline Bourgeois added. Installing a permanent dome can take two to three years. We cannot stop young people from playing during this time. They must be able to continue practicing under the dome as they have for years.
With information from Benoit Chapdelaine.