Mayor Monique Worth turns sod, marking the beginning of construction
By Kevin Woodhouse
www.thesuburban.com
The hot and muggy weather was appropriate for last Wednesday morning’s ground-breaking ceremony at Grier Park in Pierrefonds-Roxoboro, for the borough’s first-ever municipal pool to be built on the former Valleycrest Pool site.
Borough Mayor Monique Worth, along with architect and project manager Genevieve Céré and Yannick Arbour-Cogela of Riopel and Steve Sideris, Valley Crest Pool Board president, held on to a golden shovel to turn the sod on the 25 metre, eight lane pool that will have two diving boards and a changing area that is expected to be completed by next June, just in time for the summer.
“This will be the first-ever municipal pool for Pierrefonds-Roxboro,” Worth told the assembled that included guests and members of council. “A project like this needs collaboration from all and we thank the Valleycrest pool association for their generosity.
The association gave over ownership of the site to the city of Montreal for no compensation at all. “The facility and building was about 40-50 years old and needed some attention,” Sideris told The Suburban. “This new pool will be up to today’s standards and the new design allows swimmers with mobility issues to take full advantage of the pool due to a zero grade entrance.”
“This pool has been a breeding ground for good swimmers, some of whom participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics,” Sideris said. “The new pool will also be part of the North Shore Aquatic Association so we will be able to have swimmers compete with 19 other pools in the division.”
The former pool and structures will be demolished this fall so that the pool site can be completed in the spring. “During the winter, we will construct the buildings,” said Arbour-Cogela.
Linton Garner, who is running as councilor in the upcoming November election, has been a longtime shareholder in the former private pool and as an active volunteer, “helped build the original structure.” Garner thinks the new municipal pool will be a great addition to the borough since “no matter where you live in the borough, you can come by with your family and enjoy a nice swim.”
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