Rendering courtesy NIPPAYSAGE
The Société du parc Jean-Drapeau unveiled its 2020 to 2030 ‘Conservation, Design, and Development Management Plan’ for parc Jean-Drapeau in Montréal. It is the culmination of more than three years of in-depth work and a collective intelligence effort.
The result is a plan providing a projection into the future, a re-thinking of the parc’s overall offer, and an enhancement of parc users’ experience.
The management plan development began with an extensive public consultation conducted by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), in which more than 6000 people participated. The vision shared by most of the participants centred around striking a balance between the parc’s natural and event-related components through developments highlighting its historical features while preserving and enhancing its natural environment. This strategy strives to return to the notion of a great and active, green and blue urban park emphasizing places in its insular character.
The proposed plan is aimed at making parc Jean-Drapeau a widely-known, iconic place and a calling card for the city of Montréal, that is likely to attract local and international visitors, not only because of the diversity of individual and collective experiences offered in conjunction with nature, landscapes, history, culture, and sports but also because of its environmental commitment, as a laboratory for best practices in sustainable development.
Projects and major development initiatives
The plan, extending more than 10 years, is an investment for the Montréal community and will result in being able to offer the population a top-notch public park and infrastructures with concerted building and development initiatives.
In carrying out the developmental proposals of the management plan the parc enlisted the services of the NIPPAYSAGE and Réal Paul Architectes team to shape this vision of the future. Interest in the development project is centred around respect for heritages, responding to constraints, needs, and current issues, and the creativity of proposals based on the best modern practices in landscape architecture. The result is a park that is more accessible, inclusive, diversified, green, and public.
The major structural projects and actions proposed by the plan from now until 2030 include:
● the complete redevelopment of Place des Nations, a major icon from Expo 67, into a large, multi-level agora that will become a meeting, experimentation, and learning place, and the enhancement of its access-ways, surroundings, and neighbouring shorelines;
● the protection, connection, and promotion of the parc’s natural heritage and areas of ecological interest by increasing the canopy cover by 30 per cent and creating a biodiversity corridor linking the cores of the two islands;
● developing a 15-km (9-mi) riverbank promenade around the islands which will provide views of downtown Montréal and enable visitors to travel around in a safe manner;
● creating a mobility area that will serve to reduce vehicular traffic in the park and the cluster of parking area surfaces, thereby giving green spaces back to the citizens;
● redeveloping the Cosmos walkway as a public, ecological, pedestrian, and cycling link to enjoy a unique mobility and contemplative experience above the water;
● creating a night-time identity and a strong lighting system to enable visitors to enjoy the parc at night;
● developing signature elevated walkways to make overall accessibility and the co-existence of the various users easier while opening up different sites and offering new viewpoints overlooking the park and its attractions;
● the preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration of water areas, notably the canals on Île Notre-Dame, by making them accessible for practicing water sports; and
● restoring the Plaine des jeux into an expansive and open green space, which will become a place to relax and unwind, while offering a panoramic view of the city and the river.
