November 22, 2007 (Quebec City, QC) – The Louis Garneau Velodrome outside of Quebec City was demolished Monday and the remnants trucked off to a landfill site according to Media Matin. The 200m outdoor facility was constructed in 2001 at a cost of some $182,000 largely paid for by the Government of Quebec. Some $50,000 was also spent on repairs to the facility in 2005, but it is not clear who paid for these repairs.

As reported earlier by Pedal, the municipal government in Quebec City had been threatening to demolish the facility since June, claiming that it was in poor shape and that the cost of repairs would be prohibitive. The site was closed in early 2007 for security reasons and Quebec City declared that no athlete has used the facility since 2006. However, Francois Trout, of the Centre national de cyclisme de Quebec (CNCQ) which operated the site, told us that he rode around the velodrome in early June and that only minor repairs were necessary. The velodrome stood on land belonging to the College de Notre Dame de Foy.

Louis Garneau, the owner of Louis Garneau Sports that is located close to where the velodrome stood, is president of the CNCQ. Garneau expressed disappointment at the demolition claiming the College only called him at the end of the day on Friday to inform him of the decision to demolish the structure. Pedal tried unsuccessfully to reach both Garneau and Trout for their comments.

We received the following comments from Louis Garneau after we had posted this news. “It’s difficult to have outdoor wooden velodromes in Quebec because of the winters we have. Indoor velodromes, on the other hand, would allow more cyclists to practise their sport and keep in shape during the winter. With 260 arenas (skating etc.) in Quebec, it would be interesting to have just one indoor velodrome.”

There is only one other velodrome in Quebec situated in Bromont. It is also an outdoor structure and according to Media Matin is in financial difficulty as well. There are now only eight functional velodromes in Canada, a country with 30 million people:

– Argyll Velodrome, Edmonton, Alberta (333m outdoor),
– Bromont Velodrome, Bromont, Quebec (250m outdoor)
– Burnaby Velodrome, Burnaby, British Columbia (200m indoor)
– Delhi Velodrome, Delhi, Ontario (250m outdoor),
– Forest City Velodrome, London, Ontario (138m indoor)
– Glenmore Velodrome, Calgary, Alberta (400m outdoor)
– Juan de Fuca, Colwood, British Columbia (333m outdoor)
РV̩lodrome Caisse Populaire de Dieppe, Dieppe, NB (250m outdoor)