Revitalization underway for Baie St-Paul

By Constance Aspart, Project Manager  I  Sustainable development. LEED GA

The revitalization of rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Baie Saint-Paul’s main thoroughfare, which attracts over 170,000 tourists a year, was the subject of lively debate. The project, which involved burying the electrical wires, repairing the street and the sewer and water systems, as well as an inviting urban design, cost around $5 million.

Source: embellissement-bsp.com
A debated revitalization…

Hydro-Québec paid $2.5 million to bury the electrical wires. The city paid $1,100,000 to upgrade the sewer and water systems. A further $1.7 million was required for site development and landfill. Four councillors opposed the project for a long time, calling the burial of electrical wires a ” coquetterie “, a project of dubious priority that would weigh heavily on taxes.

The hesitation almost cost Baie St-Paul its subsidy. The Association des gens d’affaires therefore proposed to the municipal council that it pay the full 1.7 million outstanding. Two councillors agreed, and the project was adopted, sparing residential property owners. The legality of the proposal was challenged, and over a hundred merchants finally opposed the project via a petition. The council then rejected the proposal, repeatedly…
… saved by citizen mobilization.

More than a year after the affair began, a citizens’ committee calls for a public consultation. At the same time, the Association des Gens d’Affaires raised funds from local businesses, and the Comité d’embellissement launched its website and a fund-raising campaign. Souvenir paving stones” priced at $200, $500 or $1,000 are on sale, so that everyone can participate, and will ultimately raise close to $75,000. Citizens are invited to finance a bollard, a lamppost or even a $25,000 street intersection adorned with a plaque identifying the generous donor… And one initiative follows another. For example, a local micro-brewery beer created especially for the occasion raised $50,000.

After many twists and turns, the project ($1,100,000) was entirely financed by the community ($700,000), the Quebec government through two MAMROT programs ($300,000) and Tourisme Charlevoix ($100,000). Thanks to the public, rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste will showcase its historic buildings, offer pedestrians 3-metre-wide sidewalks, paved intersections with benches, LED lights to reduce light pollution and Morris columns.
What can Baie St-Paul offer us?

While participatory financing is no substitute for public authorities, as we have seen in the United States with the abuses of the Kick Starter financing site, for example, it has to be said that citizen involvement can sometimes save cities, and always deserves a place at the very start of the planning process. Here, as elsewhere, a bottom-up approach has prevailed, with strong ownership of the project by citizens who have given themselves the means to implement it.

The case of Baie Saint-Paul is not unique: several other municipalities are often cited as examples, including Sainte-Camille. All successful cases of revitalization have been taken on by local players. The challenge for a municipality lies above all in mobilizing the players involved, so that they take ownership of the revitalization of their area from the outset.