Photo: Martin C. Barry
Susie Nemes, Brian Tracey and Pierre Fontaine of Centre du Sablon
take part with Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, Chomedey city
councillor Basile Angelopoulos and children from the centre’s
pre-school in ground-turning marking the start of the Sablon Green
project

Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt made time in his busy schedule on Oct. 8 to drop by the Centre du Sablon in Chomedey for a special ceremony marking the official start of work on Sablon Green. The project will involve the re-landscaping of the sports and recreation centre’s back yard into a welcoming and environmentally-friendly outdoor setting.

Three phase project
Accompanied by Chomedey city councillor Basile Angelopoulos, the mayor used a shovel to turn some of the ground in the yard, assisted by a few children who attend Centre du Sablon’s pre-school. But before doing that, they joined the chairman of the centre’s board, Brian Tracey, in executive-director Pierre Fontaine’s office, where they inspected the architectural layout and plans. The project involves three phases taking place now, in the spring and next fall.
When done, the yard will have new facilities, such as a gazebo at the centre, a barbecue, a bocce court, a grassy area and a decorative pool of water, all of which are sure to attract users. The project involves close cooperation with the City of Laval, which owns a wooded tract of land just beyond the back yard fence. The fence will be coming down to integrate Centre du Sablon’s yard into the wooded area. As the name Sablon Green implies, everything is being implemented with environmental values in mind. Some of the seating will even be on boulders arranged in a friendly circle.

Tree planting by students
It’s all being paid for with a $30,000 grant received from the TD Bank. There has also been some strategic guidance and a loan of equipment by the City of Laval. Another important partner is the Centre de Formation horticole de Laval, which is providing manpower. Students from the horticultural training centre will be planting trees as part of their curriculum. The TD Bank grant is being made through a foundation, Friends of the Environment, which was created by the bank to provide assistance to communities for environmental projects. There are no strings attached to the grant, such as sponsorship obligations.