A portion of NDG Park was officially renamed Vimy Place on Sunday at a ceremony to honour the battle of Vimy Ridge.
It replaces the old Vimy Park in Outremont which was controversially renamed for former premier Jacques Parizeau last October.
Many say NDG is an ideal location to commemorate Vimy and borough mayor Russel Copeman says it’s more fitting than the old location.
“I had never been to Vimy Park in Outremount, I would venture that very few Montrealers had,” he said. “Here you have a site that is dedicated in 1919 with this cenotaph, you have it on Sherbrooke St. in the heart of this community, easily accessible, so this is a great choice.”
The new Vimy Place runs from the cenotaph in NDG Park to Sherbrooke St., in the heart of the borough.
A ceremony at the new Vimy Place in NDG Park commemorates the 100th anniversary of the battle at Vimy Ridge.
In June, Montreal city council approved the controversial plan to rename Vimy Park in Outremont after Parizeau, which sparked an outpouring of criticism.
Parizeau was best known for leading the "yes" side in the 1995 referendum on Quebec independence and lived near the park for many years.
Critics called changing the name of Vimy Park an insult to those that died Vimy Ridge during the First World War. Fighting together for the first time, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps succeeded in capturing Vimy from the German army between Apr. 9 and 12, 1917. It came at a cost, with 3,600 Canadian soldiers dead and another 7,000 wounded.
The city named the park after the battle in 1933, but failed to register the name with Quebec's toponomy commission, which oversees the naming of public spaces in the province.
At the new Vimy Place, brand new plaques surround the cenotaph, a lasting reminder of the sacrifice thousands of Canadian soldiers made a century ago.
