Mile End's Field of Possibilities gets new life after accidental bulldozing
CP workers ripped up park while building staging ground to build new train tracks
A group of Mile End residents volunteered their time and hands to help give the Field of Possibilities a much-needed makeover after Canadian Pacific Railway workers accidentally bulldozed the green space.
The Field of Possibilities, better known as the Champ des possibles, sits near the corner of Bernard Street and De Gaspé Avenue in Montreal's Mile End neighbourhood and has long been used as a park by nearby residents.
They were devastated when CP mowed down part of the space last year while working to build new tracks nearby, turning their park into a muddy mess.
The railway apologized and agreed to pay to refurbish the park.
Now volunteers are out planting hundreds of shrubs to make the space green again.
Roger Latour is a naturalist and the vice-president of the group Les Amis du Champ des Possibles.
"Everything we do, what we choose, is to be as useful as possible to the native insects and native birds," he said, adding that there will be 40 varieties of plants blooming on site by this time next year.
He said the field is home to a number of species, including honeybees and Monarch butterflies.
Frédéric Guindon likes to walk his dog, Abby, along the path near the train tracks.
He said often in the morning he sees birds feeding.
"There's a lot of flowers. In the summer it's pretty," he said.
He's glad to hear they're expanding the green space.
"It's perfect because this summer it was just muddy with the rain and everything, so now it's pretty great that they'll put some more green things here," Guindon said.