[ad_1]
The ruins of the Deschênes Rapids dam will no longer be part of the landscape along the Ottawa River.
Despite a recent reassessment of the heritage value of the site by Quebec’s culture minister, the site is now considered too dangerous. But the government has promised to “keep a memory of these relics.”
“The decision is based on an analysis of the heritage interest and takes into consideration the issues of conservation and development, as well as the security of the area,” said Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe in a French statement.
“Certain contexts — in this case, the dangerousness and inaccessibility [of the site] — mean that we cannot keep everything,” Lacombe said.
A question of safety
The government said in 2017 it would demolish the ruins due to public safety concerns. Then in 2020, the Quebec Transportation Ministry issued a deadline for a buyer to come forward or else it would remove the ruins.
No one came forward to manage the conservation, the ministry said.
Last April, the ministry launched a call for tenders to carry out preparatory work for possible demolition, despite opposition from some residents.
A month later, Gatineau Coun. Caroline Murray launched a petition calling on the provincial government to preserve the ruins and designate them a heritage site.
Then, at the beginning of the summer, Lacombe requested a new analysis on the classification of the remains, but it wasn’t enough to ensure their preservation.
“To ensure everyone’s safety, it is unfortunately necessary to dismantle the remains,” Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said in a French statement. “Too many tragedies have taken place to turn a blind eye.”
A loss for heritage
Lynne Rodier, vice-president of the Deschênes Residents’ Association and the Aylmer Heritage Association, said she’s saddened by the decision.
“Any heritage that is destroyed is a heritage that cannot be rebuilt,” she said in French, adding she’s borrowing from the words of Michel Prévost, president of the Outaouais Historical Society.
Rodier would have liked to see the government take into account “the community which values its history, which values its heritage, and its natural environment.”
Especially since, according to her, the rapids do not present any safety risks.
“This is not an accident site,” she said. “What we are asking of the government, which costs nothing, is to leave it there and let nature take care of it.”
Rodier said she’s considered that “the future of the land remains unknown” and would have liked to set up a museum park at the site “because we have a very sensitive area in terms of ecology and biodiversity.”
[ad_2]
