Many Westmounters consider the conservatory, attached to the public library on Sherbrooke Street, a cornerstone of the city. Seeing it barred up and closed for almost a year now has been disappointing.
“I feel so bad about it, so I really wish we do something about it soon,” said resident Shahrzad Ghaffari.
Samantha Bretholz used to live across the street from the almost century-old conservatory. She says her kids especially miss visiting the frog pond inside.
“It was a nice kind of respite during the winter to come and have a little bit of heat,” Bretholz said. “It’s been in disrepair for a while and we are all anxious to get it back.”
But getting it back will take some time.
The City of Westmount recently received a long-awaited architectural report on repairing the conservatory and its complex of eight greenhouses. The report comes after a pane of glass fell from the Conservatory last fall, leading to its complete closure since then.
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The inspection report from architectural firm MBA Architects provided several repair options, including some superficial repairs to a complete reconstruction. That is the option the city is leaning towards.
The complex was built in 1927, and some of the materials used in building it back then – including cypress wood – aren’t readily available today. The city says fixing it piecemeal isn’t an option.
“There are areas that are rotting and are potentially dangerous and it needs to be reconstructed,” councillor Cynthia Lulham says. “It’s not a matter of just fixing a few areas.”
Fixing the conservatory and frog pond alone will cost at least $2 million. The city also plans on re-doing its network of eight greenhouses and modernizing them. That cost isn’t known yet, but the city is applying for federal funding to help offset the bill.
“It’s an iconic building, it’s part of our heritage for Westmount,” Lulham said. “There is not a question council is going to rebuild it.”
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The Westmount Municipal Association (WMA) just hopes the reconstruction is done properly.
“It’s frustrating that it’s taking so long,” WMA president Paul Marriot said. “But on the other hand, if it’s done right and it lasts 100 years again then that’s probably a good thing.”
After public tenders are put out, the city hopes construction will start by next spring.
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