Jarry Park is defined by Jarry and Faillon streets, north and south, and falls west of Saint-Laurent Street over to the tracks.
Centre de tennis du parc Jarry
285 Faillon West
514-273-1234
Baseball reservation
514-872-7895
Soccer reservation
514-872-3464
According to the city book on street names, Jarry Street and Jarry Park are named for different people. The street is named after an early 18th-century landowner, but the park is named in honour of Raoul Jarry (1885-1930), city councillor for Villeray. The city took possession of the park lands in 1945 after having leased them for years, but a grandiose development plan designed by the University of Montreal architect Ernest Cormier never materialized. Tennis courts, playgrounds, wading and swimming pools and vespasiennes (public bathrooms - now generally out of use) were added bit by bit. In 1960, a 3000-seat baseball stadium was constructed in the park.
The first home game by the National League’s Expos was played at an enlarged Jarry Park arena in April 1969, and the team played there until they moved to the Olympic Stadium in April 1977. The park was renamed Parc Jean-Paul II in 1985 in brief flurry of enthusiasm after the Pope’s mass in the park during his 1984 visit, but the name change seems never to have taken hold and the park reverted to its original name in 1987. An abstract monument close to Boulevard Saint-Laurent commemorates the event.
No longer needed for baseball games, the stadium was gradually converted into a professional tennis venue, a purpose for which it is still used. Currently there is controversy over the planned expansion of the tennis facility at the expense of green space, at a premium in the intensely urbanized Villeray neighbourhood.
On any weekend afternoon from spring till fall, you can saunter in Jarry Park and enjoy the pond, the fountain, the trees and the flowers, and appreciate the multicultural cross-section of people for whom this park is an urban refuge. Kids play, people picnic. The long view southwest over to Mount Royal is pleasing, giving a sense of space and openness. Ducks flap over the pond. It’s a nice scene.
There are still baseball diamonds at Jarry Park, likewise soccer, bocce, basketball, beach volleyball, swimming pools and playgrounds, a dog run, and several gazebos. In winter the pond is swept to make a skating rink.
To get to Jarry Park the best metro stop is De Castelnau (not, in fact, Jarry), or take the 55 bus up the Main. There is parking in various spots in the park, and although it isn’t on a bike path it’s commonly cycled through.
There are no shops in the park, but there is a McDonald’s not far away on the Main. The Jean-Talon market is in the area, or you can be adventurous and check out one of Park Extension’s Indian or Greek restaurants. There is a railway crossing in the northern part of the park giving access to that neighbourhood: the old footbridge behind the stadium is closed indefinitely for repairs.