Some residents of Greenfield Park in Longueuil say they feel like they've hit a wall.

They're trying to prevent the permanent placement of a wall between the new parking lot of the Charles LeMoyne Hospital and Vercheres St., where they live.

Though construction has begun on the wall, the residents on Vercheres St. say they'll continue fighting for their berm.

The brick wall, which the city promises will be spruced up with rose bushes and trees – is an improvement over a temporary wall residents were stuck with when the expansion began. But residents say the plan ignores what was promised to them several years ago in a city bylaw.

The atmosphere began to change when The Charles LeMoyne Hospital began expanded, forcing the construction of a new parking lot.

Twenty-one homes on one side of Vercheres and on nearby Mary St. were expropriated and levelled for the expansion.

The wall was built to separate the parking lot from the street, but it replaced many long-time neighbours and friends, said resident Margarite Rochon.

"It was a lovely neighbourhood. We had our friends across the street and we went back and forth and had tea together," said Rochon. "It was just a pleasant, pleasant place to live."

Frieda Kendrick is also mourning the loss of the neighbourhood.

"I've lived here since 1957 and we had a great friendly atmosphere here," she said. "All at once the hospital came in and that was the end of it."

The new wall is an upgrade, assured Longueuil city councillor Normand Williams.

"The landscape (is) more dynamic, and better built into the neighbourhood," he said.

Neighbours on Vercheres said that isn't what the city promised six years ago in a city by-law calling for a berm – a man-made ledge of earth – like the one on Mary St.

"This is what we're asking for. We're not asking for a larger berm (than the one on Mart St.). We're just asking for the minimum requirement with the law," said neighbour Allen Kendrick.

"We just don't know what to do to get the hospital administrators to obey what's in the law… put up a berm! That's all we're asking for," said Frieda Kendrick.

Responsible for the hospital's expansion is Gilles Brosseau, who said a berm can't be built until the expansion of the hospital is finished – in as much as three years.

"We can't do it in the short term," he said.

For now, the city has agreed to the permanent wall at the hospital's expense.

Allen Kendrick said it's not a satisfactory solution, and is less than residents were promised.

"We've given up and sacrificed so much now. Why should we give up and compromise on a wall?" he said.

A determined Frieda Kendrick said they will continue to fight.

"I just feel that I want to see that berm put up before I die," she said.