Parc Jarry

Parc Jarry — the big playing field of the city’s north end

There are parks you visit and parks you use: Parc Jarry belongs firmly to the second category. Thirty-six hectares of open lawn, sports grounds and paths lined with sugar maples and American elms, set down between Villeray and Parc-Extension, two of the most densely populated and most multicultural neighbourhoods in Montreal. This is a park that lives loudly: cricket and soccer on Saturdays, kites over the middle of the great oval, family picnics until sundown — and, for one week each summer, world tennis lands at the stadium and fills the paths with a crowd from everywhere.

Highlights

• IGA Stadium — the tennis centre built in 1996 following an agreement reached in 1995 between the City of Montreal and Tennis Canada; its centre court seats 11,815 and it hosts the National Bank Open, formerly the Rogers Cup, every summer.
• The pond — created in 1990 when the southeast sector of the park was redeveloped, ringed by a walking path: this is the quiet corner, the one with herons passing through and morning walkers.
• The great central oval — an immense open clearing, designed with kite flying in mind among other things: it is the largest stretch of free lawn in the north end of the island.
• The Expos legacy — it was here, in the park’s former stadium, that the Montreal Expos played from 1969 to 1976, in a ballpark seating 28,456, the first Major League Baseball team based outside the United States.
• The pool and the wading pool — the park’s summer water hub, one of the busiest in the area during Montreal heat waves.
• The public piano and the heated chalet — two small things that change everything: improvised music in summer, a shelter to take your skates off in winter.

What’s inside

Jarry is a flat, legible park, with no slopes and no dense undergrowth: you can see from one end to the other, which makes it reassuring for families and practical for sport. The facilities are grouped into poles — sports in the north, water in the middle, contemplation around the pond in the southeast.

• Soccer fields, baseball diamonds, a basketball court and beach volleyball courts.
• A skatepark, a ping-pong table, a bocce court and a fenced dog run.
• Community gardens, where residents of the two neighbourhoods tend their plots from one season to the next.
• Plenty of picnic areas, drinking fountains and public washrooms.
• Free Wi-Fi, in service in the park since 2006, and an audio guide produced by the Coalition des amis du parc Jarry, founded in 2004.
• In winter: groomed cross-country ski trails, skating rinks — boards for hockey and an open surface for free skating — and a sliding hill, with equipment rental on weekends.

What to do and who it’s for

• Tennis fans — the National Bank Open is held here every summer, alternating year by year with Toronto between the men’s and the women’s draw.
• Neighbourhood families — pool and wading pool in summer, sliding hill and rink in winter, playgrounds and lawns year-round: everything is within stroller range.
• Amateur athletes — soccer, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball and skateboarding, with no complicated booking and no membership fee.
• Walkers and runners — the loop around the pond and the paths of the great oval make for a flat, safe circuit that is lit in the evening.
• Dog owners — the park’s fenced dog run is one of the most used in the area.
• Baseball and sports-history buffs — coming to see the site of the first major league ballpark outside the United States is still a pilgrimage for a lot of Montrealers.

Getting there and practicalities

The park sits in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, straddling the Villeray and Parc-Extension neighbourhoods. Transit serves it from three sides: De Castelnau station, on the blue line, is the closest to the tennis centre, a few minutes’ walk away; Jarry station, on the orange line, opens onto the east flank, a slightly longer walk; and Parc station, on the commuter rail network, borders the park on the west side. Several bus routes skirt the site, and bike racks are installed at the entrances. Access to the park and its everyday facilities is free — lawns, fields, pond, rinks, sliding hill — but the tennis tournament is a separate ticketed event, and sports equipment rental is charged as well. The park is open every day from 6 a.m. to midnight. An hour and a half is enough for a full loop; count on a whole day if you are coming for sport, for a swim or for the tournament.

When to visit

In spring the park becomes usable very quickly thanks to its flat, well-drained ground: it is the first big lawn in the north end to dry out, and the soccer leagues start back here before they do elsewhere. Summer is the reigning season: pool and wading pool open, cricket and soccer every weekend, kites above the great oval, and the peak of the crowds during tournament week, when the whole neighbourhood takes on the air of a tennis village. Autumn settles things down: the maples and the elms turn yellow, the pond reflects the trees, and the paths become ideal for running. Winter, finally, does not put the park to sleep — quite the opposite: the rinks go up, with boards for hockey and an open surface for recreational skating, cross-country trails are groomed across the wide open spaces, a sliding hill runs as soon as the snow holds, and the heated chalet is there to change and warm up in. On weekends you can rent the gear on site, which makes the park especially easy to get into for newcomers discovering their first Montreal winter.

Worth knowing

The park is named after Raoul Jarry (1885-1930), a city councillor and member of the city’s executive committee who had recommended creating a large park in this sector. The land belonged to the Stanley Bagg Corporation; Montreal leased it from 1925 on, for two ten-year terms, and only became the owner in 1945. On June 24, 1965, the park hosted the Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebrations in front of some 40,000 people, with Pauline Julien and Jean-Pierre Ferland on stage. But the episode that stuck in the collective memory is a sporting one: in 1969 the park’s old stadium was hastily enlarged to bring its capacity to 28,456, and it became the home of the Montreal Expos, the first Major League Baseball franchise based outside the United States. On April 14, 1969, the Expos played their first home game here and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7, carried by a three-run homer from Mack Jones in the first inning and a two-run triple in the ninth, in front of a crowd of more than 29,000 in a ballpark that officially held only 28,456. The team played its last game here on September 26, 1976 before moving into the Olympic Stadium. The site then went back to its local sporting vocation, and changed scale again in 1996: after an agreement signed the previous year between the city and Tennis Canada, a full tennis centre rose from the ground, with a centre court seating 11,815 and indoor courts. The southeast sector, for its part, had been redeveloped in 1990 with the creation of the pond and its path. Since 2004, the Coalition des amis du parc Jarry has worked to preserve the public, free and inclusive character of the site.

Visitor tips

• During tournament week the stadium sector and its surroundings are packed: come in from the east side of the park instead if you are simply here to picnic or run.
• The park is almost entirely in the open — bring a hat and water in summer, a windbreaker in winter, because the great oval shelters you from nothing.
• For the pond and its birds, come early in the morning: it is the only time this part of the park is genuinely quiet.

Questions and answers

Do you have to pay to get into the park? No. Access to Parc Jarry and its everyday facilities is free, every day from 6 a.m. to midnight. The tennis tournament at the stadium is a separate event with its own ticketing, and equipment rental is charged.

Which métro station is closest? De Castelnau, on the blue line, is the closest to the tennis centre. Jarry station, on the orange line, serves the east flank, and Parc station on the commuter rail network borders the west side.

Did the Expos really play here? Yes. The park’s old stadium was their home from 1969 to 1976, which makes it the first Major League Baseball ballpark located outside the United States. The first home game, on April 14, 1969, ended in an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Can you swim in the pond? No. The pond created in 1990 is an ornamental body of water surrounded by a path. For swimming, the park has a pool and a wading pool open during the summer season.

What is there to do in winter? Skate on the prepared surfaces, play hockey on the boarded rink, slide, and ski on the groomed cross-country trails; the heated chalet acts as a changing room and equipment rental is offered on weekends.

Is the park suitable for dogs? Yes, there is a fenced dog run in the park; elsewhere, the city’s usual rules apply.

Can you come with young children? Absolutely. The ground is flat and easy to roll a stroller over, the wading pool and the play structures are designed for toddlers, and the open space lets you keep children in sight.

How much time should I allow? An hour and a half for a full walk, half a day with a swim or some sport, and a whole day during the tennis tournament.