Groundbreaking ceremony for Phase I of the Cartierville Cultural and Community Centre

This morning, the mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Émilie Thuillier, officially broke ground on the first phase of the Cartierville Cultural and Community Centre, one of the major projects currently being carried out by the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. This work, which aims to transform the building formerly belonging to the Sisters of Providence located at 12225-27, rue Grenet, into a cultural and community center, represents an investment of $9,986,938.24, including taxes.

"This work will take place throughout 2021 in order to prepare the first phase of the Cartierville Cultural and Community Centre. We can't wait to get in there in 2022! This structuring project, which has long been supported by the community, has been the subject of citizen consultations and has been developed in concertation with local stakeholders. It is part of the city of Montréal's and the borough's desire to preserve, encourage and support community action, whose contribution to the population's quality of life is essential," stated Émilie Thuillier, Mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville.

"What a pleasure to see this community centre finally come into being in Bordeaux-Cartierville! The result of close collaboration between local organizations, the CLIC and the borough, this community centre will help meet the diverse needs of our community," added Effie Giannou, city councillor for the Bordeaux-Cartierville district.

"This project is the result of a tremendous collective effort on the part of community actors. We are extremely proud to support the Citizens' Spaces project, which will be at the heart of this building. We hope that everyone will feel comfortable there and that this unique and innovative place will be a vector of inclusion, collaboration, sharing and solidarity. A dream is becoming reality, it's a superb building and plot of land for a structuring project that will profoundly change the face of the neighborhood," said Karen Vespier, director of the CLIC de Bordeaux-Cartierville.

Due to health measures related to COVID-19 the event took place in the presence of a limited number of dignitaries, including Effie Giannou, Bordeaux-Cartierville district councillor; Jocelyn Gauthier, Director of Culture, Sports, Recreation and Social Development for Ahuntsic-Cartierville; Karen Vespier, director of the Bordeaux-Cartierville Conseil local des intervenants communautaires (CLIC); Alexandre Papin, president of the firm retained to carry out the work, namely Le Groupe CIBS; Nathalie Lapointe, section head of the borough's real estate management and Sister Claire Houde, provincial superior and representative of the Sisters of Providence community, Émilie-Gamelin Province.

In order to ensure a wider audience for this long-awaited moment, especially through the various local organizations, the event was recorded for broadcast on the Ahuntsic-Cartierville Facebook and web platforms.

An integrated sustainable and eco-responsible development project
The work, which will take place from mid-February 2021 until the spring of 2022, and will consist of transforming the interior spaces and bringing them up to standards, both in terms of fire safety and compliance with the building code, for use as a community center. Major HVAC work is planned to allow for ventilatation and air conditioning of the Centre, in order to ensure the comfort and well-being of the public.

Reorganization of the interior spaces is necessary to convert the rooms formerly occupied by the sisters into citizen spaces, offices for community organizations and activity rooms. All of the renovations were conceived with the aim of ensuring the Centre's long-term usability, both structurally, by reinforcing the floors, and architecturally, by renovating the spaces to bring them up to date, by allowing for universal accessibility and by creating service areas.

A second phase will include a library and cultural spaces
Eventually, within a 10-year time frame, a modern library and cultural spaces will complete the CCCC's facilities and provide the population of Bordeaux-Cartierville with a multifunctional facility that meets the expectations of the residents of the surrounding area.
Developed in cohesion with the sustainable development policy
The CCCC project includes the reuse of the current building, built in 1975, and its surroundings by conserving as much of the existing materials still in good condition as possible, in order to minimize the quantity of demolition waste sent to landfill. Also, new control systems for mechanical equipment and light fixtures will optimize their operation to generate savings.

Despite the difficulties involved in converting an existing building, special attention will be paid to the ecological development of the site, the efficient management of water, the sustainable management of materials and resources, the quality of the interior and exterior environments, as well as the use of clean energy and the circulation of clean air to maximise the well-being of its occupants.