The black-and-white photo recently published in The Gazette is clearly from a long-gone era: dozens of people sit on a sunny, rocky beach as others take strolls, frolic in the water or place orders at snack bars. The scene, not far from downtown Montreal, was common at the time – 1934 – when riverfront playgrounds still dotted the shores of Montreal Island.

In the years since, industrial development on the shore and pollution in the water has meant the end for most city-side beaches. But, as major cities around the world compete for more tourist dollars by dressing up their waterfronts with “urban beaches,” Montreal is getting in the game. One new initiative in the works is a beach of sorts that will open this summer at the Old Port of Montreal, modelled after both a beach that opened in 2002 on the Seine in Paris and Sugar Beach in Toronto (directly adjacent to a huge sugar-processing plant), which was inaugurated in 2010.

Montreal’s new beach will feature sand, Muskoka chairs, large blue parasols, a boardwalk, a bar, showers and mist stations. The federal agency that runs the Old Port – one of Montreal’s top tourist attractions – is spending more than $3 million on the fancy sandbox, part of a proposed $180-million revamp of the city to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday and Montreal’s 375th in 2017.

Positioned to capture more tourist dollars, the new beach is near the Clock Tower Pier – a favourite with visitors who are willing to tackle the 192 steps inside the 90-year-old tower, which offers spectacular views of Montreal and the St. Lawrence.

Alas, you’ll have to pay to rest up on the new beach – probably $6 a day for adults, the same cost as using the nearby Old Port skating rink in winter. And you won’t actually be able to swim there. Authorities cite strong currents, a problem that critics say can and should be rectified with some type of breakwater.

The new beach has highlighted the city’s lack of swimming holes and other waterside facilities, a shortcoming that swimming activists call attention to every July during an event known as the Grand Splash. The activists, who want more natural places to swim around the island, take a publicity-stunt dip off an Old Port pier to press their point. Last year, they included Richard Bergeron, an Opposition party leader at Montreal city hall who has promised to open beaches all over the island if he’s elected mayor. (The pollution is a thing of the past, officials claim.)

The province – smelling revenue and perhaps votes – seems willing to fund the “back to nature” trend. Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand recently set aside $50 million to help the Montreal region preserve biodiversity and develop “a green and blue belt” – a network of green and waterfront spaces around Montreal Island.

And Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay has proposed a new park and beaches along the St. Lawrence Seaway dike between Montreal and the South Shore.

No word yet, however, on what it might cost to take a stroll in nature revisited, the Montreal way. IE

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