Borough unveils new prototype chalet in Gilbert Layton Park

Côte des Neiges-NDG Borough Mayor Michael Applebaum was brimming with pride Thursday afternoon as he presided over the official re-opening of the chalet in Gilbert Layton Park in NDG, which had been shut for much of the past year for a major refurbishment.

The project, costing about $650,000, saw the old and aging chalet, dating from the late 1960s, converted into a modern, airy and well-lit recreational facility that is bound to delight the many regular users of Gilbert Layton Park. Among them are members of the local Italian community who play on the bocce courts, and the NDG Soccer Association which is a frequent user of the soccer fields in Gilbert Layton Park.

In addition to this, however, the rebuilt chalet is quite likely to be serving as a model for the reconstruction of other chalets throughout the City of Montreal’s network of parks. Whereas the original brick and steel design of the chalets tended to enclose them securely and shut out most exterior light, the façade of the new building has large glass panel sliding doors, and a lot of space inside has been freed up by knocking down walls. “This is an incredible day for me, because we are now able to showcase our vision of what we want the parks to be in the future and also our chalets,” Applebaum said in an interview with The Monitor. His plan calls for the chalets to be transformed into “community pavilions” that will be more open and where it will be easier to organize and coordinate activities regardless of the time of year or the weather.

Eventually an organization is to be put in place to manage a kitchen serving foods approved under the borough’s balanced nutrition plan. “It becomes a community pavilion bringing services closer to the community in their local parks,” said Applebaum.

The borough mayor maintains there has never been any truth to rumours that local recreational services in Côte des Neiges-NDG were in danger of being cut because of the construction of the Benny Sports and Recreation Complex. “Not only have we signed long-term leases with the facilities we presently have, but we’re now opening up even more by transforming our chalets into community pavilions,” he said.