Addressing a well-attended meeting of residents last Monday, which the borough convened to gauge response to its culture, sports and recreation policies, he said, "There is no question for us, for myself or the administration, to look at closing any local facilities.

"It is not a question. What we want to do is once again improve these facilities, have long-term leases and to ensure that local services continue to be provided at the local level."

Applebaum said the lease for the Walkley Centre — a recreation facility located in an old McDonald's restaurant, which former Montreal mayor Pierre Bourque gifted to the Walkley Avenue community nearly a decade ago — is now up for renewal for another six years.

Likewise, he added, the lease for the Westhaven Centre is also up to be renewed for five years, instead of the current two. But Applebaum acknowledged that the owner of the Walkley Centre building had indicated he will not be interested in renewing his contract when the next lease expires.

As an alternative, Applebaum said the borough is considering relocating the Walkley Centre to an adjacent site just south on Walkley, which the city might go so far as to expropriate for a project combining recreational and residential uses.

Borough officials used the meeting to unveil new scale models of the sports and recreation complex, which is slated to be built at the southern end of Benny Park starting in spring 2009, with a tentative opening date of December 2010.

The complex, which makes economical use of space through submerged construction, will be built atop the area where the soon-to-be-demolished Benny outdoor pool building is located now. Applebaum said that when the borough had initially announced plans for the $15 million complex, it promised that it wouldn't occupy more than 6.7 per cent of the surrounding park land.

The current plans, which include a 25-metre pool, a children's wading area and outdoor water park, a gymnasium, a fitness and workout room and a "green roof," takes up 4.8 per cent — exactly the same space as the outdoor Benny Pool.

After the sports and recreation complex, Applebaum wants to build a comprehensive public library for NDG, on land on the other side of Monkland Avenue. He said it "will be the envy of all the boroughs and the cities, I think, not only in Montreal, but also in Quebec.

"We're working right now with Centre City … to come up with a brand new library across the street in Benny Farm … It's a project that we're looking at that hopefully we'll be able to announce very shortly."