"It's been a year of really hard work for councillors, staff and architects, analyzing all options," Mayor Karin Marks said in welcoming residents.

Georges Bulette and Pierre Leclerc, the architects responsible for the project, began working on it in the early fall. They have been meeting regularly with the City's design review committee since then, and are now part-way through the design's development.

Preliminary plans include two rinks, an enlarged swimming pool area, a children's play pool, a new teen centre, a café, a multi-purpose room and other facilities — all to be based on silver-level certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system.

However, the environmental construction and the further inclusion of an underground parking lot are raising the initial $25 million estimate to $30 million. According to plans, 90 parking spaces would be available in an underground garage. There would be 49 more spaces in a lot behind 4670 Ste. Catherine St., and 13 at the rear of Westmount Park School.

Access to the complex would be possible from four separate entrances to help prevent traffic jams that are now common. The main point of entry from Ste. Catherine Street would be protected by new traffic lights and pedestrian signals.

Initiatives planned under the LEED certification include the collection of rain water in a retention basin for reuse, no permanent exterior parking spaces at ground level (to maximize green space) the use of indigenous plants that require minimal watering, recycling of heat from ice-making equipment to warm the pool, and maximizing use of natural light inside.

During a question period following the architectural presentation, Director General Duncan Campbell was asked whether the City has any long-term plans to connect the Westmount Armoury with the pool/arena building, since the City owns the building but leases it to the Royal Montreal Regiment.

"We don't have any plans to run a sort of an underground tunnel," he said. "Things may change, but there's a limit to what we can do with what we've got. And certainly there is potential there."

But Campbell said there was no indication the RMR planned to move any time soon, adding that Westmount's lease with the federal government expires in 2024.

Despite encountering strong opposition by several residents during its early stages, the project received little criticism from those who attended Saturday's meeting.

The Westmount Municipal Association, which has closely scrutinized the project over the past year, praised the City for organizing the public information meeting. "The (WMA) board wishes to thank Mayor Karin Marks and City Council for the time and energy that they have devoted to putting together a preliminary plan for the arena/pool renewal project," the WMA stated last week. "The board remains concerned about the process being followed in terms of transparency and provision of opportunities for Westmount citizens to ask questions and to voice their opinions about the plans."

Photo: Martin C. Barry