With construction in full swing at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), the McGill School of Urban Planning staged an unconventional event today at nearby Vendôme metro station. Dubbed an "action-research project", the Making Megaproject Work for Communities Community-University Research Alliance – headed by research coordinator Jason Prince – joined forces with Alex Gilliam of Public Workshop to ask citizens for their ideas of how they envision Vendôme station once the MUHC is completed.

Citizens finished the sentence “Vendôme would be great if...” and their answers were pinned to a clothesline. Answers included “..we had good access from metro to hospital,” “it became a community centre for all to pass through,” and “the bus came on time,” among many others. They then helped create a mock-up of the layout of the station and surrounding area with cake, gum balls and Gummi bears.

Gilliam explains how the process works below.