A planned facelift for the Pierrefonds-Roxboro Marina and its adjacent park has been cancelled due to the project’s projected cost.
The renovations were part of Montreal’s efforts to get ready for next summer’s 365th anniversary celebrations. The original budget was $3 million, with $1 million of that coming from the city of Montreal, but it soon became apparent that wouldn’t be enough, said Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Dimitrios Beis.
“The estimated that we had, once we went out to tend, came back approximately $750,000 over budget,” he said.
The marina currently has no docks for mooring boats, which Beis said was part of an effort to make the marina more friendly to non-motorized boats, and the clubhouse is shuttered closed.
The sorry state of the facility has some local boaters feeling angry that any work was done before the city knew how much all the work would cost.
“First you do the research and then you take away from people the marina and things like that,” said Tsipy Hochman. “But you don’t take away and then two years after, you still have nothing.”
While Beis said there are still hopes to renovate the park with money set aside in next year’s budget, it will still be a scaled-down version of the original plan.
“(We want to) increase the green space here, allow for pleasure crafts and not necessarily motorized boats on site,” said Beis, adding they hope to have canoes and kayaks for rent at the site.
