Thanks to 'Friends of Gorilla Park,' Montreal agrees to make once-lush urban area an official greenspace

A Mile-Ex group that fought for years to turn a vacant lot into a park has finally won the city's approval to get it done.

After a 10-year battle, Gorilla Park, or Parc des Gorilles, will officially come to be: in November, the City of Montreal finally okayed the $10 million price tag to acquire the land and beautify it.

It's all thanks to the group "Friends of Gorilla Park," who have been pushing to bring the area in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie back to life ever since its trees were cut down without permission in May of 2013.

"That was our call to rise," group member Frances Foster told CTV News. "The Gorilla rose up!"

While she's proud of her group's accomplishment, Foster may not be around much to enjoy it.

She said she and others in the neighbourhood are being evicted and priced out of their residences thanks to big interests moving in. 

"With the development of this sector and the opportunities for these developers and real estate brokers, they sense everything is going to 'boom, boom, boom,'" she explained. 

Even as she celebrates her victory with Gorilla Park, there's a fear that beautifying the area will contribute to its gentrification.

Nevertheless, to Foster and many others, reclaiming the space and giving back to the community is crucial.

"I will be asked to cut the ribbon in 2024 by the borough mayor Francois Limoges and I need to be here," she said. "I'm not finished my work in my community."  

Park development will begin in the Spring of 2023.