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magazine / apr09
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April 2009 issue |
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FEATURE
Trois-Rivières — A
tale of tenacity
(Page 1 of 4)
Over its 375-year history, Canada's
oldest industrial city has survived boom and bust. Now, Trois-Rivières is reinventing
itself again.
By Monique Roy-Sole with photography by Benoit Aquin
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| The Laviolette Bridge, named for the city’s founder, spans the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Photo: Benoit Aquin |
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The most spectacular view in Trois-Rivières is one that the majority of its residents have
never seen. On a bright June afternoon, from an elevated point on the edge of downtown in
this historic city midway between Québec and Montréal, the dark iron-rich waters of Rivière
Saint-Maurice can be seen swirling like a watercolour wash into the green flow of the St.
Lawrence River. A sandy beach fringes Île Saint-Quentin, at the mouth of the Saint-Maurice,
and crisp white sails punctuate the river’s
three channels, which form a delta and long ago inspired a French captain to give the area
its misnomer, Trois-Rivières (“Three Rivers”).
| He had lived his entire childhood beside the ‘monster.’ |
Few Trifluviens, as the residents of Trois-Rivières call themselves, have enjoyed this vista,
since it can be viewed only from a vacant industrial site that is closed to the public. As
we drive along a rutted path, Michael Hiller, a city manager, and Marie-Line Sauvé of the Société de
développement économique de Trois-Rivières point out that for more than 150 years, this 34-hectare plot of
land was a bastion of heavy industry, most notably the Canadian International Paper Company
(CIP) mill. Now the land is owned by the city.
Little remains of the mill, known as Tripap when it closed in 2000, save for an old pumping
station and heaps of crushed brick and concrete left over from the demolition. A section
of a tall brick wall near the site’s entrance serves as a tangible reminder of the barrier
that, for generations, fenced off the mill and separated the people of Trois-Rivières from
the banks of the two mighty rivers at the core of the city’s existence.
Sauvé recalls the story of a colleague who grew up by the mill but only recently had the opportunity to walk onto the
site and see where the two mighty rivers meet. “He walked out alone to the point — he was crying,” says Sauvé, still
moved by the scene. “He had lived his entire childhood beside the ‘monster.’”
Here, at the confluence, is where Trois-Rivières’ story began 375 years ago. And it may be where the future of
Quebec’s second oldest city lies. As it celebrates its milestone this year, Trois-Rivières is banking, in part, on the redevelopment
of this parcel of wasteland to shed its tarnished and outdated image as an industrial city in decline.
Trois-Rivières retrouve ses rives is the city’s slogan for the $400 million development plan to reclaim the riverbank and
turn it into a prime piece of riverfront real estate. Known as Trois-Rivières sur Saint-Laurent, it will feature the largest
outdoor amphitheatre in Quebec, a dock, public gardens, walking and cycling paths and a pulp-and-paper-industry
interpretation centre. Half the land will be sold to developers for condos, a hotel and a technology-based business park.
Due to be completed over the next 10 years, the project is being promoted as the legacy of the city’s 375th anniversary.
Moreover, it is a symbol of how Canada’s first industrial city is attempting to reinvent itself after centuries of making a
living off the Mauricie’s forests and iron deposits.
| Comments on this article | Leave a comment | Born & brought up in Trois Rivieres. I enjoyed reading about my city. I find the article true to the past.
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