In Percé, electric poles soon to be installed in the middle of a postcard
Work carried out by the Société québécoise des Infrastructures is also underway to rehabilitate the century-old building, which now belongs to the Musée de la Civilization, located in Québec.
To come and install three-phase poles on Mont Joli, it does not go over very well with the municipal council
launches the mayor of Percé, Cathy Poirier.
The city council seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the elected officials do not want to slow down the project to convert the Frederick-James villa into a Blue Space, but on the other, the City fears that three-phase poles will harm the beauty of the place.
The council considers that the installation of three-phase poles on Mont Joli is contrary to the heritage vision of the Ministry of Culture
says Cathy Poirier.
Not following your own rules
This installation does not pass in the village either. Percé is a recognized historic site with its share of constraints for establishment owners.
There are people who have paid incredible sums to have custom windows made. We are talking about sums of $40,000 to $50,000 more to improve the visual landscape of Percé
says merchant and resident Jean-François Gagné.
He sees a glaring contradiction there.
We see that the government will manage to do things on a 25 million dollar project, next eventually we will come to spoil all the beauty of the building that they are improving
he laments.
” It’s amazing to see the government ultimately not following its own rules. »
Cathy Poirier agrees.
It seems inconceivable when you know that any installation, renovation or new construction work must meet the criteria of the Ministry of Culture.
she explains.
Bury the cables
The City and citizens are asking Hydro-Québec to bury the cables instead to prevent power poles from being visible on Cap Canon and Mont Joli.
They recall that the Frederick-James Villa is one of the most photographed buildings in Quebec.
Hydro-Québec indicates that it has not received a request to bury the electric cables in this sector and, if so, the user-pay principle will apply.
It has been impossible, for the moment, to talk to the Museum of Civilization.
With information from Guillaume Whalen and Bruno Hare