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Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve’s $60-million facelift is inching toward the finish line.

Mayor Valérie Plante was among the dignitaries who joined hundreds of sponsors and guests on Wednesday morning to inaugurate the new state-of-the-art paddocks at Île-Notre-Dame. Work on the structure is more than 95 per cent done, which ensures the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada will proceed without a hitch from June 7-9, race chief executive François Dumontier told reporters.

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Even as officials spoke, construction crews were busy laying asphalt on pit row and operating machinery amid a din worthy of a large construction site. The ceremony took place in an open-air space overlooking the racetrack that featured bare concrete floors.

“I want to reassure everyone: The paddocks will be ready for the Grand Prix,” Renaud Coulombe, head of Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau, told attendees.

Photo by Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette

Launched in July, the modernization and expansion work has been beset by delays and cost overruns. Dumontier, who had originally pledged to have the work completed by April, acknowledged on Wednesday that some “finishing” would be required after the race to complete the revamp and clean up the site.