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Luce Parisien stood up during a press conference about a social housing project on the site of the Canada Malting Co. to read a poem by St-Henri resident Agathe Melançon.

“There’s a history

Something to share

A place worth preserving

To store our dreams

for our community, for everyone.”

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On Tuesday, the community organization Solidarité St-Henri unveiled its proposal to repurpose the abandoned landmark beside the Lachine Canal as a 230-unit housing project. It would include rental offices, an underground data centre, greenhouses for food production, community gardens and a bicycle workshop.

The group is hoping its 137-page proposal for the $45-million project will bring its eight-year dream of a 100-per-cent community-run project on the decrepit industrial site one step closer.

“We want to show people that it is possible to develop our city differently and to develop it outside of the logic of the private market,” said Shannon Franssen, coordinator of the citizens’ group.