Gatineau wants to create a district with sporting toponymy

Installed near an intersection, Gilles Chagnon carefully holds in his hands a 32-page booklet which tells the story behind the names of around forty streets in the district that the councilor has represented for seven years.

Passionate about history and heritage, the Lucerne elected official is currently pursuing a project that is even closer to his heart as president of the Toponymy Committee of the City of Gatineau. He and his colleagues want to pay tribute to athletes, coaches, builders and volunteers in the local sports scene by naming numerous streets in a major upcoming real estate project in the next few years in the Aylmer area.

This would be a neighborhood that would be developed to the west of the road Clockat Chemin Antoine-Boucher.

Nothing has been approved yetwarns Gilles Chagnon when speaking of the project named The Gates of the West by the promoter.

However, the Toponymy Committee is already preparing.

We decided that it would be a sport and culture theme. We will be able to give streets the names of several people who have made their markconfirms the municipal councilor.

We will start looking at the names that are availablehe adds.

The City of Gatineau already has a bank of 273 names, from all areas, which meet the various criteria in terms of toponymy. The person being celebrated must have been dead for at least one year and have made a contribution to their community.

Gilles Chagnon gives the example of Pauline Foran, a volunteer whose name has already been selected for a street in a neighborhood already under construction north of the Paul-Pelletier swimming pool. As a member of the Aydelu community organization, she played a role in the financing leading to the construction of the Frank-Robinson arena in the early 1970s.

Before receiving subsidies, she [Mme Foran] had mortgaged his house for the arena. It has to be donesays Mr. Chagnon. There are great stories like that in our city.

Avoiding “overlooks”

The idea of ​​a sports-themed district is well received by the Gatineau and Outaouais Heritage Network. The chairman of the board of directors Frédéric Marchand believes, however, that the composition of the committee who will choose the names sera very important to avoid oversights.

When you embark on a project with several names at once, there is always this fearhe admits. Did we forget anyone? Is there anyone who had a more athletic life who should have been on the list?

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Mr. Marchand had already collaborated in the past with the defunct Gatineau Sports Museum, which closed its doors in 2019. Some of the artifacts are now at the Panthéon des sports du Québec, in Montreal.

According to him, the City of Gatineau can take inspiration from its sister city of Sherbrooke, which has set up a Sports Pantheon outside, along the Lac des Nations. There are plaques which commemorate the name of the athlete, his discipline and his involvement in society.

Currently in Gatineauhe said, there are parks, a few arenas and a swimming pool named after athletes or volunteers who have had an impactrecalls Mr. Marchand, who believes that the City missed an opportunity in the last decade with the opening of an important building.

We have a large sports center just called the Gatineau sports center, which deserves to be named after an athlete.

We have a mayor who seems to love her city in terms of heritage. Well, it’s an opportunity for her to say: you see, this is what I am capable of doing for heritage, among other things, without it costing an arm and a leg. We could make several examples like that.

Holder of a master’s degree in museology, Frédéric Marchand notes that Gatineau has a rich history in sports, and not just in hockey. He cites in particular the world of curling, baseball, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and cycling which have produced gifted athletes and respected coaches.

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For his part, Gilles Chagnon believes that toponymy can be a tool helping to stimulate a sense of belonging among citizens of a neighborhood or city.

It’s important for me to remember our characters and our buildershe mentions.

Moreover, the City of Gatineau saw its commitment in this area recognized by the Commission de toponymie du Québec last summer, receiving the Mérite en toponymie 2024 prize.

Her efforts to designate places in her territory, notably by honoring the memory of women as well as the culture and language of the Anishinabeg community, were highlighted.