City throws Jeanne-Mance Park softball players a curve ball

Dozens of Montrealers who come together a few times a week in Jeanne-Mance Park every summer are calling on the city to save their softball diamond.

They set up a Facebook page, called Save / Sauvons la Balle-Molle au Parc Jeanne Mance, after recently discovering the northern diamond in the park will soon be off limits.

"I was very alarmed. I just can't see how this wonderful thing right in the middle of our city — where people not only from all over Montreal but from all over the world come to — the prospect of it being there for people this summer, it's horrific," said Dave Smith, one of the organizers of the Facebook group.

Smith, 70, plays softball at the diamond at least three times a week. He's been going to the park for the last 30 years.

"It's an open field, which is kind of what makes it magical because it's so inclusive."

The softball diamond on the north side of the park, near the corner of Mont-Royal and de l'Esplanade avenues, will temporarily be off limits because the adjacent tennis courts need to be resurfaced this summer.

The only way for the heavy equipment to access the tennis courts is via the softball diamond.

There's also a concern that if the softball diamond remains open to the public during the work, nearby construction workers could get injured if they are hit by foul balls.

It's not clear when the work will begin, how long it will take or if access to the field will be re-established once the work is done.

Marisa Berry Méndez has been going to Jeanne-Mance Park, which is located right at the foot of Mount Royal, for the last five years. She says it's a microcosm of Montreal.

"It's such an incredible community that really represents the diversity of Montreal. It's one of the few milieus in which I've been able to meet people from all walks of life, from all different countries, linguistic backgrounds, men and women, it's very inter-generational," she said.

"I think the most important thing is for the city to see the value of this community and the space, and the way the community takes care of that space, and to help find a solution with us," said Berry Méndez, who plays several softball games a week there.

"Ideally, they would find an alternative to [having] the equipment on the north field and we can go ahead uninterrupted by the renovations. If that's not possible, then the most important thing is to ensure the longer-term sustainability so that after the renovations of the tennis courts, the north field is reinstated for people to use."

'We want to see the plans'

The park falls under the jurisdiction of the central city, not the borough.

Smith said he's written a letter to Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and also reached out to Réal Ménard, the city's point person on large parks and green spaces.

"We're not getting any response and it's quite frustrating. We want to see the plans — the plans for now and the plans for the future. We're not giving up," Smith said.

Alex Norris, an opposition councillor in the borough where the park is situated, said he's also tried to get answers.

"I went through our local borough parks director to see if there wasn't some kind of accommodation that could be made for them to be able to continue playing while the work was underway. And we got a very firm 'No' back from the central city administration, which is unfortunate but there doesn't seem to be any willingness on their part to compromise on this or to find another solution that would accommodate the ball players," Norris said.

CBC has left several messages with various City of Montreal officials. No one has responded yet.