Residents push to keep history alive as Verdun considers rebuilding historic Natatorium

It's seen better days, but Verdun's Natatorium is a symbol of firsts — the first outdoor swimming pool in Quebec, and for a while, Canada's largest. Suffering from major structural problems, the site has been out of use since 2017 and now some Montrealers who have history with the heritage building are calling for it to be preserved.

At a city council meeting on Tuesday night, Verdun borough Mayor Marie-Andrée Mauger unveiled its recommended course of action to a packed house: demolish and reconstruct the building. The pool behind the building, however, is in much better condition and can be restored.

Thierry Cerpolet, a photographer and art deco enthusiast, is an admirer of the Natatorium.

"This is a unique piece," he says, pointing to the more than 80-year-old building's imposing white and teal facade.

Cerpolet is one of the people who attended yesterday's meeting.

He says Montreal doesn't do a good enough job of protecting its heritage.

"Everything is disappearing," he says, adding that too often the cheapest route — to put up new buildings — is the one that's taken.

Thierry Cerpolet, a photographer and Art Deco enthusiast, is an admirer of the building. 'Everything is disappearing,' he says. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)

Lorne Jacobs, 81, used to swim competitively at the Natatorium in the 1950s. Strolling by the building, he remembers making a splash in the heyday of his championship swimming days, winning races against his peers.

"We used to have races every summer. So it brings back memories of that time when we had our outdoor championships," he said.

As for the borough's plans, he recognizes that the building is old and needs a lot of work. Ideally, he says he'd like to see a new pool and a renovated interior of the pavilion that keeps the structure intact.

Collapsing and corroded

On Wednesday, Mauger told CBC News that she had spent two years pushing back against demolition and understands that many are attached to the building.

"This is a concrete building where the concrete has become crumbly and it's reinforced concrete and the steel is also corroded. So right now there are many, many structures to help keep this building [from] collapsing," Mauger said.

The interior of the Verdun Natatorium has been closed for years due to structural issues with the building. (Jillian Kestler-D'Amours/CBC)

Béatrice Saulnier-Yelle, a spokesperson for the city, said estimates to restore the building would cost about $40 million, a price tag 35 per cent higher than the reconstruction route.

See what can be saved

Dinu Bumbaru, policy director at Heritage Montreal, attended yesterday's meeting and says the high turnout shows people are attached to the building.

"People love the fact that it had this appearance, this presence on the boulevard. It's also the fact that originally for many decades there was a snack bar on the rooftop which also was part of the pleasure of going there with friends and family," he said.

The Natatorium, an example of art deco architecture, is a project that captures the "spirit of initiative and civic pride" of the era, an important piece of Verdun's heritage, according to Bumbaru.

But the building is hard to repair in a sustainable way.

"This is not stone or marble. It's a material that has steel in it that can rust and decay in a very complex way and you can't just replace a section because it's all cast together," he said.

He says the borough should quickly work with the City of Montreal's heritage council and get its expertise and strongly consider reconstruction for only what can't be saved.

What's next?

After hearing from residents, Mauger says that she wants to hear from heritage experts to see if more can be preserved within a reasonable budget.

"I want the team of the City of Montreal to double check and triple check what part of the building it would be possible to preserve and [if] we can have a mixed scenario of restoration and reconstruction," she said.

Mauger also says she plans to create an online poll for Verdun residents to weigh in.