Quebec urged to name iconic Sanair racetrack a heritage site over potential school plan

Weeks after the town council of Saint-Pie, Que., passed a resolution to potentially build a high school on the grounds of a 57-year-old racetrack, some are now calling for it to be named a heritage site.

In a letter addressed to Quebec’s minister of culture and communications, a prominent race-car driver and instructor argued Sanair is a true masterpiece that has “propelled Quebec to the top of the global motorsports industry.”

“Sanair is inseparable from the identity of Saint-Pie and the Montérégie,” reads the letter from Bertrand Godin.

“Heritage is not limited to churches and historical houses. It also lives in places dedicated to collective memory, leisure and working-class and technical identity.” 

The track, located in the Montérégie, about 70 kilometres from Montreal, has hosted racing greats like Gilles Villeneuve in his Formula Ford days and numerous large-scale events like Nascar races. 

Godin argues the site is also an essential space that is also used as a training ground for emergency services.

• Turn a racetrack into a school? The idea is causing tensions in a Quebec town

Earlier this month, the mayor of Saint-Pie, Mario St-Pierre, acknowledged the importance of the track in the region's history, and understands why people might be upset by the passing of a resolution for a land reserve encompassing the grounds to potentially build a high school. 

He said, however, that the role of municipal council is to plan for the town's future development and that a high school is desperately needed.

The regional school service centre, known as the Centre de services scolaire de Saint-Hyacinthe (CSSSH), confirmed in an email to CBC this month that population growth in the area is putting pressure on its schools.

Recently compiled data indicated that by 2034, there will be a shortage of nearly 2,400 high school spots in the region.