The city of Montreal plans to turn the former quarry and dump in St. Michel into a large park with a lake.

Mayor Denis Coderre said the park will be a monument to sustainability he hopes will be admired around the world.

"Every time that we will talk about sustainable development, what do you do with -- when you're stuck with that kind of problem. Montreal will be the solution," said Coderre.

It will take almost a decade to transform the quarry and landfill into a park, but Coderre promised certain areas would be ready in two years, in time for Montreal's 375th anniversary celebrations.

There will be pathways, wooded areas, rest areas, and an outdoor theatre in what will be a four-season park. It will also boast a man-made lake five times the size of Beaver Lake on Mount Royal.

"People will be able to walk, run. bicycle, ski, whatever they want to do and even just rest and enjoy the planes, the birds or the vegetation that we will have there," said city architect Diane Martin.

The city plans to spend $34 million to develop about 18 hectares of the park by 2017, with the total cost for the full 100-hectare park yet to be determined.

Coderre repeatedly called the future park something that would be comparable to New York's Central Park, and said it would include many educational exhibits.

The city is in talks with the STM, Bixi and car-sharing programs to make sure that anyone who wants to get to the park will be able to.