côte-des-neiges-notre-dame-de-grâce Quartier Namur-Hippodrome (reconversion de Blue-Bonnets)

[ToxiK]

Je trouve dommage qu'on perde un type de divertissement. Mais si on devait en perdre un, c'est un moindre mal que ce soit l'hippodrome. Je serais plus triste de perdre le Casino, La Ronde ou l'Orchestre symphonique par exemple.

[acpnc]

On ne perd pas quelque chose, les gens ne s'en sont que désintéressé avec le temps. Donc pas de clients= pas d'affaires. Côté loisirs, la ville est super bien pourvue et son offre s'améliore constamment. Certaines activités deviennent moins populaires, d'autres les remplacent, et la vie continue...

[ChrisDVD]

^^

 

Creative Destructionism, de Joseph Schumpeter.

[Né entre les rapides]

D'ailleurs à mesure que le temps passe, ce terrain prend de la valeur

 

Il est intéressant d'observer l'évolution, au fil du temps, des vocations qu l'on entendait donner à cet immense terrain. A l'heure actuelle, la fonction résidentielle est privilégiée. Dans le passé, une fonction tertiaire (bureaux d'affaires) avait été sérieusement envisagée. Personnellement, je préfère la fonction résidentielle, car elle peut contribuer à un rééquilibrage du rapport (ratio) population résidente/emplois dans la partie centrale de l'île. Au contraire, un vaste complexe de bureaux aurait amplifié le déséquilibre et accentué de ce fait la masse de déplacements pendulaires (quotidiens) entre (principalement) la banlieue et Montréal. En rétrospective, l'échec du projet de complexe de bureaux aura sans doute été une bonne chose. Certes, les causes de cet "échec" ne se trouvent guère du côté d'une soudaine sensibilisation envers la viabilité urbaine, mais bien plus dans une révision à la baisse de la demande pour les fonctions pré-citées dans ce secteur de l'agglomération. La grande chance fut que les changements de perspective furent suffisamment évidents pour dissuader toute amorce sérieuse de construction à l'époque. Ce qui aujourd'hui laisse le champ libre à la concrétisation de l'option résidentielle. Question théorique: les planificateurs auraient-ils su anticiper ce virage? Et si oui, auraient-ils réussi à l'imposer aux décideurs? Pourquoi la question? --Parce que des situations similaires peuvent se reproduire ailleurs sur le territoire, et que la "chance" ne sera pas toujours avec nous.

[nephersir7]

Hippodrome development threatened as agreement with Quebec stalls

 

An agreement in principle presented with great fanfare in 2012 for Quebec to cede the vast tract of land of the defunct Hippodrome de Montréal site to the city of Montreal was never signed, placing the future of one of the largest planned residential development projects on the island in limbo.

 

The Quebec government announced in March 2012 it would cede ownership of the 43.5-hectare property to the city for residential development. In return, Quebec would share half the profits derived from the sale of lands to developers. The agreement stipulates Quebec’s minister of intermunicipal affairs must approve the deal.

 

City councillors and community groups who have worked for years on plans for the site believed the agreement had been signed and development was progressing, albeit behind schedule due to upheavals at Montreal city hall.

 

The previous city administration estimated the site could accommodate as many as 5,000 to 8,000 housing units holding up to 20,000 residents on the land situated on the western edge of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a borough sorely in need of additional housing.

 

In October 2012, then mayor Gérald Tremblay announced a five-year timetable to turn the former Blue Bonnets Raceway into “a forward-looking urban neighbourhood” inspired “by the best sustainable development principles.” Then borough mayor Michael Applebaum promised the new district would set international standards for “quality public spaces and ecological site management.”

 

Last summer, officials with the urban planning department said Montreal was pressing ahead with the project, but it was about six months behind schedule because of municipal elections and the resignations of Tremblay, forced to step down over corruption allegations, and then Applebaum, who was arrested on 14 charges of fraud in June 2013.

 

Now the lack of a signed agreement could delay development for years, said Marvin Rotrand, city councillor for Snowdon, where the Hippodrome is located.

 

“(The agreement) set out a path to development that ended years of debate over what we were going to do with this land,” Rotrand said. “It’s complete nonsense that a piece of choice land so close to the centre of the city lies empty year after year while we have to deal with urban sprawl … and the crying need in Montreal for affordable housing and social housing.”

 

Under terms of the agreement, Montreal was to launch an international design competition in the summer of 2014. The city earmarked $2.6 million for 2012-2015 to aid with the design process. Public consultations led by the independent Office de consultation publique de Montréal were to be held in 2014, leading to the creation of a master plan by 2016 and the start of the land sales in 2017. Any land left unsold by 2025 would become property of Quebec. The clubhouse, left dormant in 2009 when the track closed for good, was to be demolished by the end of 2014 at Quebec’s expense, to be reimbursed through property sales.

 

The derelict clubhouse still stands, hulking and empty among the weeds and overgrowth that have encroached over six years. City estimates put the cost of electricity, maintenance of water mains and snow clearing at $153,965 a year.

 

Rotrand said disagreements surrounding the demolition of the clubhouse and other issues were causing the delay.

 

“Now we are finding out the agreement has never actually been formalized. ... Civil servants tell me there will be years of delay,” Rotrand said. “Planning has not begun, infrastructure is not being taken care of. I think people would be really shocked to hear that after a decade and a half of community activity, little is happening.”

 

City spokesperson François Goneau confirmed Wednesday the agreement was never signed.

 

“The city is presently in discussion with the government to find the easiest process so the two sides can meet their respective obligations while maintaining the objectives of the development of the site,” Goneau wrote in an email. He said the delays were caused by ironing out “regulatory, legal and technical procedures” with Quebec.

 

The city is still on schedule to complete development by 2025, Goneau said. The office of Intermunicipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau transferred requests for information Wednesday to the province’s finance department, although city documents specify approval of the intermunicipal affairs minister is required.

 

Rotrand fears there is a move away from previous commitments to residential housing. As city-owned land, he notes, Hippodrome represents a rare opportunity in which the city and its residents can dictate the outcome, as opposed to real-estate developers.

 

Last month, C.D.N.-N.D.G. borough mayor Russell Copeman and member of the city’s executive committee, spoke of plans for 3,500 to 5,000 housing units on the Hippodrôme site.

 

In a letter sent Wednesday to Pierre Desrochers, chairman of the city’s executive committee, Rotrand says: “I have come to the conclusion the entente of March 2012 is threatened. ... Everything suggests the redevelopment of the site has been delayed by years, and that the administration may be, with no consultation of stakeholders, drawing back from the concept of allocating this land for housing.” Discussions he’s had with city departments indicate the city is considering more commercial and industrial elements at the Hippôdrome site, and that the public consultation process could be abandoned, Rotrand said.

 

A community forum on the future of the Hippodrome site drew more than 200 participants Sept. 20. Jennifer Auchinlek of the Côte-des-Neiges community development corporation that organized the forum said the need for more social housing was the main topic of concern voiced, given the dearth of affordable housing in the community. Her organization is suggesting 2,500 social housing spots on the site. Not aware that the agreement had not been signed, the possibility of further delays did not surprise her.

 

“We’ve been working on this for 20 years,” she said.

 

 

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Hippodrome+development+threatened+agreement+with+Quebec/10253246/story.html

[jesseps]

What else is new, business as usual here in Montreal and by the Quebec government.

[ScarletCoral]

via The Gazette :

Blue Bonnets blues: Abandoned racetrack a sad sight

 

Paul Delean,

Montreal Gazette

Published on: November 21, 2014

Last Updated: November 21, 2014 6:16 PM EST

 

At the site of the former Blue Bonnets racetrack, plants are growing out of a dirt racing surface that crews used to smooth and tend to with the same detail and attention that golf courses lavish on greens. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Ann MacNeill / Montreal Gazette

 

Abandoned racetracks are a rare and dispiriting sight, especially at the onset of winter. And the island of Montreal happens to have one.

It’ll be six years this month that horse racing officially ended at Hippodrome de Montréal, known for most of its 101-year history as Blue Bonnets. A place that in its final decades seemed to be from a different time, set amid the urban sprawl next to one of Montreal’s busiest thoroughfares, now sits empty and unattended, its faded 1960s-era architecture a sad reminder of bygone days.

 

In July of 1970, the Décarie Blvd. landmark attracted what was then the largest crowd for any sporting event in Canada, 41,578 people. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was one of the busiest harness tracks on the continent, and considered a showcase of North American racing. Now it’s just an empty shell on a large property going to seed. A housing development slated for the site is stalled.

 

Plants are growing out of a dirt racing surface that crews used to smooth and tend to with the same detail and attention that golf courses lavish on greens.

 

The decrepit barns that used to permanently house hundreds of horses (and a few of their caretakers) now are visited only by graffiti artists and the occasional raccoon. Back in the day, the stable area was a hive of activity, especially in the morning, as horses would be bathed, fed, washed, shod and hooked up to their sulkies for training.

 

In the paddock, competitors would align next to their rivals for the races of that day (or night), calmly awaiting their call to the post under the watchful eye of their trainers and grooms. It was abuzz on race nights with drivers and trainers talking strategy, nattily-attired owners tiptoeing through dust, mud and horse manure to visit their animals before the races, and track officials trying to keep things running on schedule.

 

Plants are now growing out of the dirt racing surface. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Ann_MacNeill

 

The paddock was abuzz on race nights. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Ann_MacNeill

 

Abandoned victory blanket at the empty Blue Bonnets site. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Ann_MacNeill

 

Cool-down blankets were one of the perks of winning major races at Hippodrome de Montréal, a badge of achievement. Now they’re keepsakes from another time, or merely the detritus of a livelihood lost.

 

Drivers and trainers sporting all-weather racing suits in their own individuals colours were the top of the pecking order in the backstretch, the ones making the decisions. Only their ghosts remain in the stables they once ruled.

 

Hundreds of horses used to live in the Blue Bonnets stables, training in the mornings, resting and eating during the day, racing at night (mostly). The trucks and trailers would arrive daily, moving out horses that were injured, tired, sold or sour and bringing in new faces from farms and racetracks all over the continent. Where did they go when the racing died? To other tracks and farms, if they were lucky.

 

It was a life of routine, long hours, modest pay and dirty, exhausting physical work, but for those who worked with horses, it brought its own form of fulfilment, and most had trouble imagining doing anything else. They, too, dispersed in the wake of Hippodrome de Montréal’s closing. Now, it’s as if they were never there.

 

The site sits empty, its architecture a sad reminder of bygone days. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Ann_MacNeill

 

Back in the day, the stable area was a hive of activity. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette.

Ann_MacNeill

 

Graffiti artists are among the only visitors to the Blue Bonnets site. Photo by Ann MacNeill, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Ann_MacNeill

[Habsfan]

vraiment triste ce qu'il se passe aves le Blue Bonnets!

[yarabundi]

On peut rêver : et si jamais c'est là que dans quelques décennies on verra monter les tours de plus de 200 mètres ???

[acpnc]

En tout cas c'est là il y a quelques décennies qu'on en proposait avec le projet Campeau.

 

Quoi qu'il arrive avec cet immense terrain, on peut le considérer comme une réserve pour le développement futur. En plein coeur de la zone urbanisée de la ville, il offrira des espaces de construction super bien situés, qui deviendront très intéressants dans une phase ultérieure de développement à haute densité.