Son of a Beach .......now competing East-West

Very nice idea to have a beach in anycase & since Projet Montreal thought of it a few years ago, is reason to consider their preferred location,...............but HEY Projet-Montreal ,any way you look at it  behind the Auditorium is just plain DUMB...........the Condos built right there are built over the main GARBAGE DUMP and no matter what BS you hear from any level of Gov't officials ( they are all liars anyway) you woul;d have toxins leaching into the water from that area........the whole river I doubt is 'safe' but it is a swift running current & flo...that the other end near the (can't say nuthouse anymore) Douglas would make a little more sense (heavy on the 'little' )............lol
.....and BTW: if you don't believe me walk down the river bank just about anywhere & dig a stick into the bank & voila you will see crud & sludge oozing out......... so you may want to think about being upstream a bit since there were virtually no industries along the river from the Nat.............to St.Anne de Bellevue........(roughly).............JMHO- LesF


 Here's the update Gazette story:
The mayor of the borough of Verdun said he’s going ahead with his plans to build a new beach near the Douglas Hospital, despite calls from Projet Montréal to move it east.
Several factors, including water levels, current speeds and project costs, make the Verdun Natatorium site a better location than the Verdun Auditorium, according to borough mayor Jean-François Parenteau, who said he’s hoping to bring the project to a design competition next October.
Projet Montréal leader Richard Bergeron proposed the planned beach be moved behind the auditorium, where he and other opposition councillors swam at a news conference on Wednesday.
“It would be really more expensive if we make something behind the auditorium,” Parenteau countered. “Maybe two times or three times more expensive.
“It’s important to have a beach, but it’s important to make a good decision for the citizen, too.”
Parenteau estimated that the auditorium site would cost $3 million because of extra work needed to improve the slope of the beach, while the natatorium site would cost $1.5 million.
According to borough administrators, that’s a rough estimate based on costs for other recently built beaches, and precise figures would need further study.
Bergeron cast doubt on those numbers.
“We have no idea how much it will cost, no more him than me,” he said.
A 2004 study by the borough concluded that the natatorium would be a stronger potential location, thanks to a gentler slope underwater and slower currents.
An added bonus for the borough is that the site near the natatorium, a former snow dump, has to be cleaned anyway. To build the beach there would “kill two birds with one stone,” Parenteau said.
But Projet Montréal prefers the auditorium site, citing access by public transportation.
Three métro stations are within one kilometre of the proposed beach.
“It’s an important criterion, specifically for adolescents,” Bergeron said Wednesday. “So that they can be independent and come to the beach, from anywhere in Montreal.”
The auditorium site is also in a busy residential and commercial area.
Bergeron noted that additional studies on cost must be done before a final decision is made.
“If the natatorium wins out, despite the fact that it’s not accessible, despite all other reasons — well, it wins, that’s all,” he said.
Both sides said they’re willing to sit down and discuss possible sites.
“It must not be the subject of a political war between parties,” Bergeron said. “We’re looking for collaboration.”
“I’d be quite happy to go swimming in the natatorium (site), but it seems to me that Montrealers will have better access to the site we recommended this morning.”
gbarry@montrealgazette.com