Verdun beach location still up in air as deadline looms

Verdun residents are making one last push to have their voices heard as the borough barrels toward its fall deadline for settling on a location for its new beach.

A number of residents have said putting thebeach behind the Natatorium on LaSalle Boulevard would destroy what little greenspace the borough has.

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Hlne Pitre, a resident who signed the petition, said the better option would be to build the beach behind the Verdun Auditorium.

She saidthat location would be closer to a Metro station,and local businesses would benefit from the increase in visitors.

"They will just drop by and bring money into the area. And over there [at the Natatorium] there's nothing to shop for... the birds?" she said.

Environmental concerns

Some people are also concerned that putting the beachbehind the Natatoriumcould hurt the local environment.

Environmental scientist ChristopherAmyotsaid a beach at that site could cancel out many of the benefits of the area's ecosystem and destroy the habitat for a number of animals including ducks, herons and brown snakes.

He also said theborough's practice last winter of using the area asa massive snow dumping grounddoesn't help strengthen the case forlocating the beach there.

The area also doubled as a dumping area for rocks and contaminated soil during road repair work onLaSalleBoulevard.

The new growthof plants, grass and other vegetation along the coastlineis helping to improve water quality and restore a natural balance to the area,Amyotsaid. The animal life that the new growth invitesalso contributes to therenaturalizationof the area.

"These animals and the plant life in the area play a role inecosystemservices. So they provide servicesfor free, for usand help us save thousands, millions of dollars per year," he said.

Pitreplans to hand the petition to Verdun mayorJean-FranoisParenteauat Tuesday's borough meeting.

The borough could not be reached for comment.

The Verdun beach is one of many projects slated for completion in2017, in time for Montreal's375thanniversary.