St. Laurent parks: something for everyone

"It's really nice to come here at take a break from work on your lunch hour or stop by to relax after work," said St. Laurent businesswoman Aïsha of Beaudet Park, where she spends a good deal of time.

Without the pretence of Maisonneuve or Mount Royal parks, St. Laurent has a number of nice spots due to be developed in the near future.

Gohier Park is a prime example. A contracting firm retained to conceive the park showed plans off at a June public-consultation meeting. Many possibilities were mentioned, including updates to the park's playground and tennis courts and movement of one basketball court. The fate of a bocce ball court is also up in the air. New equipment will include a small water park, a rest area, a dog run and a small gathering area.

The dog run will be the only place man’s best friend will be allowed in the park.

Bikers are riding in a grey zone, as it's not clear if they can or can't ride their bicycle through the park. Bikes in parks are not expressly forbidden by signage or borough bylaws, but article 878 of the Highway Safety Code bans all non-public utility vehicles from parks.

The scope of the new parks' development is fairly wide. Other than Gohier, other priority projects on the agenda for coming years are Grou, Bélanger and Petit, as well as St. Laurent Park. No timeline has yet been set for these projects.

Renovations come with births, especially in fast growing sectors of St. Laurent.

"The work on Philippe-Laheurte Park, in new St. Laurent, is currently in its third phase," said borough spokesman Johanne Houde.

Finally, wading pools suffer the most from these transformations, as seven of them were replaced by water parks since 2005, and two others are slated for replacement this year.

<@S2:Translated by Marc Lalonde<@$p>