Borough submits subsidy bid for sports megaplex

Council authorized a subsidy application to be made as part of the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports' program to finance sports installations. The subsidy could cover as much as half of the proposed complex's estimated $28.6 million price tag.

"We have received solid support for this project from the milieu. With this request for funding, council is taking a step towards the realization of this project, which is judged to be a priority, not only by our administration, but also by all parties concerned," said Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa.

Montreal's executive committee has already pledged a conditional investment of $3.5 million that depends on whether Quebec and the federal government come on board with financing. The borough has also set aside $3.5 million for the project.

Citing Saint-Laurent's growing population, expected to hit 94,000 by 2012, its ethnic diversity, and the many pockets of impoverished areas, DeSousa said the complex would be "stimulating for families" and perhaps allow young people to "channel their energies" in constructive pursuits.

Saint-Laurent Sélect athletics club president Edvige Persechino was among the first to push for a sports facility back in 1999. She says the complex would be a welcome addition for her track athletes, many of whom compete internationally, but are forced to practice on outdated high school installations.

"They can't train here. We can't offer them high-end training in a gymnasium. We have to send them to the Centre Sportif Claude Robillard," said Persechino, adding that some even have to be "exiled" to the United States or Europe if they want to keep their competitive edge.

The proposed complex includes 6 gymnasiums, a 60 m race track, a 269 m linear track for training purposes, fitness and multipurpose rooms, and a 25 m indoor swimming pool and diving basin. It would be built just in the area between École Secondaire Saint-Laurent and the Raymond Bourque Arena.

With the site's current outdoor facilities, such as the 400 m Ben Leduc track, 15 soccer fields and six tennis courts, Persechino feels the area could have the makings of one of the country's major sports hubs, attracting international calibre athletes to train here.

However, since Cartierville happens to be in the same provincial riding as Saint-Laurent, local MNA Jacques Dupuis has been quoted in the past as saying that it would difficult to get subsidies for two similar projects in his riding. Both boroughs have sat down to find ways the respective centres could compliment eachother, but the projects remain distinct. "Mr. Dupuis has always said that if he could do both projects, he would," said his political advisor Sylvie Forget.