Property of the City of Quebec, the lot in question is located at the junction of Route Jean-Gauvin and Rue de la Promenade-des-Sœurs, in Cap-Rouge.
Looking for land to give to the Découvreurs School Service Center to respond to the problems of overflowing schools in the west of the city, the Marchand administration suggested building a new primary school on this site. site.
View of part of the wooded land proposed by the City of Quebec to build an elementary school, in Cap-Rouge (Google Maps)
Only a water pressure monitoring station is currently located on a small part of this wooded lot, neighboring a former dump.
Along the Promenade-des-Sœurs, between the Jean-Gauvin road and the railway line, the immense lots belonging to the Veolia company served as a dry materials depot from 1985 to 2009. Residual materials and other waste in ” significant quantity” are still buried on the site, we learned from a public presentation by the City held last April.
Mapping of the former Cap-Rouge dump area. Property of the City, the lot proposed for the construction of the new elementary school is located at the bottom, on the right. (Quebec city)
The Découvreurs School Service Center has been eyeing for years a wooded area east of Avenue Le Gendre and north of Boulevard de la Chaudière to build a new primary school. But while waiting to be determined on the fate of the tramway, the City of Quebec refuses to cede the land to it.
As a replacement, the City has therefore only found in its available land a single lot for which it has formulated a proposal in recent months, confirms the CSS, in a response to a request for access to information consulted by The sun.
Last January, François Tremblay, an economic development advisor at the Major Urban Projects Division of the City of Quebec, detailed in the documents obtained, for the attention of employees of the CSS des Découvreurs, that he had been mandated to “make a final review of the potential sites for the Cap-Rouge primary school.
“Apart from the Chaudière sector, there remains one site for which we are carrying out further analysis. The City owns land on Route Jean-Gauvin, near Rue de la Promenade-des-Soeurs,” he indicates. He speaks there, with supporting maps, of an “unconstrained buildable area of approximately 13,000 m2”.
The municipal official explains in an email that he wants to check “in advance” if the site is likely to correspond to the expectations of the School Service Center, particularly in terms of location.
“I simply wanted to feel the pulse with you in order to save time until all the indicators are green in the City,” he specifies in the exchange made public.
This suggestion, made “on an exploratory basis”, is the only one received by the CSS, confirms the general director Christian Pleau, in a written declaration to Sun.
The CSS des Découvreurs has been eyeing for years a wooded area east of avenue Le Gendre and north of boulevard de la Chaudière to build a new primary school. (Jocelyn Riendeau/Archives Le Soleil)
“The City has in fact proposed, for discussion, the land that it owns located at the intersection of Route Jean-Gauvin and Rue de la Promenade-des-Sœurs,” says municipal spokesperson Audrey Perreault.
Although it is located near a landfill, the City claims that to its knowledge, “as of today, this land would not be contaminated.” She also maintains that there are no wetlands of interest on the wooded site.
In previous public responses, the Marchand administration has repeatedly maintained that more than one proposal had been made to the CSS, which had not found them satisfactory.
The mayor of Quebec even called on the Legault government to do its part and also look into its available land to accelerate the construction of the new primary school, the planned opening of which had to be delayed until 2028.
Offer refused
For the only offer received, the CSS des Découvreurs justifies its refusal “mainly because it appears to us to be too far from the housing development in the Le Gendre sector. We are aiming for a school in the heart of its neighborhood where a majority of students will be able to get there on foot,” defends the general director, always with the “hope that the original site will be retained at the end of the current analysis” .
Aerial view of the former Cap-Rouge dump, from the Jean-Gauvin road (Quebec city)
“The City would like to point out that this proposal is not the one it favored for the development of a school,” also indicates spokesperson Audrey Perreault. But in the absence of clearer guidelines on the development of the sector, while waiting to be determined on the fate of a future public transport project, the best location for the school still remains to be determined.
“As soon as the government gives us indications, we will move forward,” argued Mayor Marchand at the municipal council on April 2.
“Double speech”
Since its proposal declined by the Découvreurs School Service Center, the City of Quebec has changed its tune for the development of land at the corner of Route Jean-Gauvin and Rue de la Promenade-des-Sœurs .
Three months later, at a public consultation meeting, on April 17, she presented to citizens her intention to acquire and preserve the lots belonging to Veolia “in order to protect wetlands and wooded areas”. The site, it was said in the presentation, is listed as a natural environment of interest and has restoration potential.
Proof of the “double talk” of the Marchand administration, criticizes the official opposition.
“The City tells us on the one hand that it wants to protect it, and on the other, that it is going to give it to a school. It’s talking out of both sides of the mouth,” remarks Louis Martin, municipal councilor of Cap-Rouge—Laurentien, in an interview with Sun.
Municipal councilor Louis Martin denounces “double talk” from the Marchand administration.
(Caroline Grégoire/Archives Le Soleil)
Even if he recognizes that there are “not 1000 choices” of land for the construction of a new school, the elected official urges the City to find an agreement with the School Service Center in the matter.
“The money is ready, everything is ready, the City just needs to give the land and it doesn’t seem to want to understand the urgency. The mayor says he prefers imperfection to nothing. In this case, there is nothing and the citizens of Cap-Rouge are no longer able to wait.”
