La construction de deux méga-hôpitaux à Montréal implique de savoir ce qu’il adviendra des anciens immeubles une fois que les nombreux services de santé auront emménagé dans leurs nouveaux édifices. En ce qui concerne le CUSM, trois hôpitaux fermeront suite au transfert de leurs services sur le site Glen. Il s’agit de l’Institut thoracique, l’Hôpital Royal Victoria et l’Hôpital pour enfants.

Malgré les possibles difficultés pour convertir ces établissements à des usages résidentiels, plusieurs promoteurs immobiliers ont déjà l’oeil dessus pour y construire éventuellement des condos.

Il semble qu’à Montréal, dès qu’on ne sait plus quoi faire d’un immeuble, que ce soit une église, un hôpital ou une ancienne usine, la conversion en condo apparaît toujours par défaut comme l’option première. Serait-ce qu’on manque d’imagination pour faire autre chose?

Les hôpitaux sont, de par leur nature même, des espaces voués à des usages publics. N’y a-t-il pas lieu de faire preuve de créativité pour préserver la vocation publique de ces lieux tout en répondant à d’autres besoins que celui du logement privé? Considérant l’ouverture prévue du CUSM sur le site Glen dès 2015, il n’est certainement pas trop tôt pour se poser la question!

The majestic Glen Arch that links St-Henri to Westmount up the Falaise Saint Jacques was orginally built as a bridge over a small river. This rare breech in the Falaise marked an important connection from the upper to the lower areas. Originally the site of a native village, after colonisation became the site of the Village des tanneries and the birth of industrial Saint Henri.

The original river is buried under concrete and asphalt, but –engineers beware! –you cannot defeat water!

This week’s flash flood proved this point. The road buckled in many spots, but was repaired very quickly.

(Photo credit: Dannielle Dyson)

Montréal, le 3 mai 2012 – Des organisations locales de Westmount, de Notre-Dame-de-Grace et de St Henri célèbrent une nouvelle phase de leur partenariat de longue date avec le Centre universitaire de santé McGill (CUSM) [...]
Lire le communiqué au complet.
Read the complete press release.

Two items that are intimately linked, today:

The Quebec Govt is moving to reorganise the Agence metropolitaine de Transport (AMT) with a view to enabling it to more single mindedly deliver transport solutions in the greater metropolitan region, or so the Gazette article suggests.

Meanwhile, the Quebec Govt is consulting Quebeckers again on how we should be achieving greenhouse gas targets. Notice, of course, that 50% of Montreal’s GHG are in the transport sector; transport is the only sector in which GHG levels are rising, and rising very fast. Deadline to comment: February 27th.

Critics agree the only way to achieve our GHG targets by 2020 is a focussed effort on transport.

The MTQ’s Turcot Interchange is a step in the opposite direction, critics argue.

Google, building 40 000 square feet of office space a week, announced recently that it will NOT build with asbestos, or any other material included in the Living Building Challenge’s list of red list materials and chemicals. Google’s corporate leadership, combined with its powerful growth, will affect the construction industry, observers say.

Should the MUHC take a principled stand on this question and insist on non-toxic building materials?

A California-based legal firm specializing in asbestos litigation has also posted an opinion piece on the MUHC’s use of asbestos, claiming that it will compromise its LEED certification. However, the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC), responsible for LEED certification, does not maintain a list of banned materials. Unfortunately, you have to be a member of the CaGBC to get access to their documentation.

A Canada-wide cancer prevention group, Prevent Cancer Now, has launched a nation-wide campaign to eliminate the use of asbestos, and is following the debate carefully as it is covered by local and international media. Worth checking out, here.