Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is promising to make shopping a more pleasant experience for Montrealers this Holiday season.
Plante says the city’s 19 boroughs will create festive outdoor spaces for shoppers to relax, chat, dine, or have a drink since indoor gatherings are restricted.
The city-wide initiative is to encourage Montrealers to shop locally and support small businesses and merchants.
Plante announced the project during the weekly meeting of the city’s executive committee on Wednesday.
The city says it has advocated a $600,000 budget for the project on top of the $6 million winter parking project, announced in October which offers free weekend parking in Montreal from November 14 to December 31, 2020.
“These arrangements, created by Montreal designers, will, I hope, encourage Montrealers to visit their local commercial streets, and I invite everyone to do so,” she said.
Outdoor spaces are expected to be added at the corner of l’Archevêque Ave. and Charleroi St. in Montreal North— in Lachine, and at Place Simon-Valois in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve— and in LaSalle Park at 11th Ave.
In downtown Montreal, the festive spaces will follow a winter garden theme in the Quartier des spectacles from Dec. 5 to Jan. 3. The festive decor will be installed on Ste-Catherine St. W. between Bleury and St-Urbain Sts. and the outdoor plaza of Place des Arts, where the annual giant Christmas tree will be raised.
