The fight to save a downtown green space unofficially dubbed Oxygen Park has ended, as bulldozers cleared the land and fences were erected around the property Thursday morning.
The demolition took place two days after the developer won a Superior Court decision allowing him to build condos on the property, as the residents' effort to get a temporary stop work injunction was denied.
The 90 ft by 20 ft (27 m by 6 m) green space on Hutchison just west of Park Ave. was considered an oasis for the many who enjoyed the space, according to nearby resident Norman Nawrocki, who says that he has helped defend and cultivate the space since moving nearby 25 years ago.
“The bulldozer came at 7 a.m., we thought it was just another garbage truck in the back alley but then my phone rings, ‘they’re destroying the park!’ all the neighbours came out in their pajamas."
The loss of the space came as a bitter blow to many.
“People are grieving, they’re furious, they’re coming by my place and crying and saying that it’s a travesty that should never have happened. We lost a big important part of this community, something irreplaceable has been destroyed,“ said Nawrocki.
The former longtime owner of the property, Maurice Fattal sold the land two years ago to another developer whose condo project has been greenlighted.
Nawrocki said that the group attempted to purchase the land from Fattal but he declined their offer.
He expressed his disappointment with local elected officials, who he believes could have done more to support the effort to save the site.
Alex Norris, the Projet Montreal city councillor for the area, says he was disappointed when he learned the plot of land would be razed.
But he pointed out the makeshift park is and always has been on private land.
He said the borough’s only option to save the site would have been to expropriate it, which would have cost $500,000, an amount they couldn’t justify spending on a space that size.
“Had we gone ahead and bought this particular property, it would have been the most expensive green space project, per square metre, in the history of the Plateau,” he said.
Norris said he has committed to creating a new park in the area before the next election.
Nawrocki described the space as “something that belonged to everybody. Although we didn’t own it, we felt good walking through it, you could smell the flowers, see the birds, people would bring plants and flowers. I’d say over the years thousands of people have contributed.”
