The community sector and heritage organizations are navigating between expectations and apprehensions in the run-up to a public consultation concerning the redevelopment of the site of the former Royal Victoria hospital, part of which is coveted by McGill University.
A first virtual briefing will take place on September 8, says a recent website update of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), which will make an official announcement to this effect next week. The consultation will then last until November and will notably include virtual sessions to hear the opinions of citizens and organizations, as well as guided tours of the huge site of the former hospital.
“A collective good”
Founded in 1893, the Royal Victoria Hospital has long occupied an important place in the Montreal health network. Many wings have also been added over the decades to the hospital complex. Most of the buildings on this site, approximately 100,000 m2, have however been vacant since the relocation of activities from the McGill University Health Center to the Glen site in 2015. Thus, several wings of the old building complex left to the site. ‘abandonment are today in a state of advanced degradation.
“The buildings are vacant, so they are deteriorating. There are also a lot of mineralized spaces that cannot currently benefit anyone, although it is a site that has great potential ”, recalls in To have to the public affairs director of the Amis de la montagne, Maryline Charbonneau, who will follow this public consultation with interest. “You have to have a grip on this collective good to give it back to Montrealers,” she said.
This strategic site, located at the foot of Mount Royal and close to the city center, is however the subject of a vast master plan of development of the Société québécoise des infrastructures which notably includes a project of approximately 700 million dollars. piloted by McGill University. The establishment wishes to add more than 25,000 m2 to its current campus by setting up an innovation center in sustainable development and public policies intended for its teachers and students on part of the site of the former hospital complex. Of the six buildings that McGill intends to acquire, several would be demolished to make way for this project. The oldest buildings, which have an important heritage character, will be restored.
We must have a grip on this collective good to give it back to Montrealers
Last month, the Quebec government approved the opportunity file for this project, dubbed the “New Vic”. It thus passed to the stage of the business case. The City of Montreal, for its part, adopted a favorable opinion last month concerning in particular the demolitions and constructions planned on this site, before sending this file to the OCPM.
Concerns
The entire requalification of the site, however, raises many issues that the OCPM, an independent body, will be called upon to address. The heritage character of the site, its greening and the protection of Mount Royal should in particular liven up the debates to come during this consultation.
The master development plan provides, among other things, to increase the number of parking spaces on this site – largely mineralized – from 1,200 to 200 in order to increase the number of green spaces. Pedestrian routes are also planned to connect the former hospital more formally to Mount Royal Park, in order to prevent wild trails from continuing to randomly take shape in this sector, harming the biodiversity of this natural environment.
“Currently, people are creating their own access paths from the natural environment and this is leading to a proliferation of informal access roads,” confirms Maryline Charbonneau. We want people to be able to access Mount Royal in a safe and peaceful manner. “
The Friends of the Mountain organization is also concerned about the future of the large portion of the site of the former hospital complex which will not be occupied by McGill University. In a preliminary opinion produced in June 2020, the Montreal Heritage Council and the Jacques-Viger Committee also underlined the importance of having, on the part of the various parties involved in the development of this site, “a formal commitment As to the maintenance of the “public character” of this site.
“We must ensure that there is an overview, a common vision” for this site to prevent it from being managed separately by “several promoters”, also considers the deputy director of policies at Héritage. Montreal, Taïka Baillargeon.
“It is an exceptional site which is really important for [le mont Royal] and the city center, ”she recalls. It is therefore necessary that the planning of this “meets” the expectations of the population.
To do this, “part of the site must be used for the development of social housing,” said Véronique Laflamme spokesperson for the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment. Currently, the only accommodation considered on this site are student residences.
“We must take care of the grain to ensure that public sites remain of public utility, in a context where land is becoming overpriced,” insists Ms. Laflamme. It makes no sense to leave sites that belong to us collectively to the private sector. “
An electoral issue?
This consultation will therefore take place at the same time as the municipal election campaign, which suggests that the redevelopment of the former Royal Victoria hospital could be part of the upcoming debates between the various Montreal political parties.
“In 2017, it was not an issue that has the importance it has today. Today, it has all the potential for it to become an important issue, ”said UQAM professor and municipal management expert, Danielle Pilette. The latter notes in particular that the preservation of views on Mount Royal is of increasing concern to the population, as are housing issues.
The OCPM could table its report by the end of the year or at the beginning of 2022.
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