As you drive into Montreal from the Bonaventure Expressway, you’ll now be greeted with a new piece of art.
It’s a 10 metre-tall, stainless steel statue called ‘Source’ by well-known Spanish artist and sculptor Jaume Plensa.
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“The piece is not anymore mine, it’s yours,” he said.
“I hope you will enjoy [it]. I hope it will be in the future a gathering place where everybody can meet, talk and enjoy.”
The sculpture is part of Montreal’s 375th celebrations.
Though it’s a loan to the city by the Desmarais family for 25 years, taxpayers are paying $500,000 for its transportation and installation.
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Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre insists it’s money well spent.
“It’s not an expense, it’s an investment by the way, remember that,” said Coderre.
“Celebration and legacy is about investment in our city.”
The art is part of the new Bonaventure makeover.
The nearly $142 million project, announced in 2014, saw a stretch of the now-demolished expressway turned into an urban boulevard.
READ MORE: Coderre announces plans to revamp Bonaventure Expressway
On top of that, there’s now a park that divides the boulevard with lots of green space for pedestrians.
Coderre said he’s confident Montrealers will appreciate it.
“When we put together the downtown strategy and the action plan, we wanted to raise density,” he said.
“If you want to raise density, you need housing, you need green spaces and you need a ‘milieu de vie’ and I think that this is clearly a great piece, changing a highway to a boulevard, and people will own it, go through it and possess that.”
Festivities to celebrate the new expressway will continue for the rest of the week.