Montreal's Sanaaq community centre opens across from Cabot Square

A new municipal cultural and community centre has opened in Montreal across from Cabot Square.

It's a part of the city that has faced challenges over the years. Inuit communities there have expressed the need for more community spaces tailored to their needs. Many other residents in the area have also called for more resources, like schools.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante welcomed everyone to the Sanaaq Cultural and Community Centre on Friday, saying they're "welcome not just today but in the coming days, the coming year. It's our centre, it's your centre."

It's a place for visitors to read, listen, dance, speak and create, said Kitty Gordon of the Makivvik Corporation, a regional Inuit organization representing Nunavik in northern Quebec.

"It opens a place for expression in all of its forms," she said.

Rhoda Kokiapik, Avataq Cultural Institute director, said there are about 3,000 Inuit living in Montreal.

"We come here for work. We come here for higher education. We come here for medical needs. Montreal has a big role in our lives," she said.

The city says the centre was built to reflect the cultural diversity of the neighbourhood with a focus on music, digital technology and Indigenous communities.

According to the city's website, the centre will provide a much-needed hub for the culturally diverse Peter-McGill district. Located on the site of the former Montreal Children's Hospital near Atwater metro, the space spans 5,000 square metres over two floors.

It will feature a library, performance hall, media lab, urban agriculture space and community café.

Developed in close collaboration with local residents and over 35 organizations, the Sanaaq Centre follows a participatory governance model where programming and services are shaped by the community itself, the city says.

Named after Sanaaq, an Inuit novel by Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk, the centre's architecture was selected through an international competition. It emphasizes natural light, wood and democratic design, the city says.

The $40-million project was funded by the City of Montreal and Quebec's cultural development agreement.

There was little talk of the costs at the inauguration. However, the city's Official Opposition has voiced concerns about the cost of renting the building during the time leading up to its opening — calling the $5.9 million spent to rent the unused building a waste of public funds.