A passion project by the Montreal parkour community, Speakeasy is the first and only outdoor location dedicated to parkour in Montreal. True to parkour's spirit, Speakeasy reclaims the urban space as a playground for both creativity and fitness.
Reach out:
Parkour is a sport about moving around in one's environment. It is also known as freerunning and has close ties to chase tag and ninja warrior. While often showcased in impressive videos, parkour is first and foremost a discipline of self improvement, focus, and precision. It is practiced worldwide by people of all ages and backgrounds.
Watch some parkour athletes from Montreal in actionSpeakeasy is located in Montreal on de la Commmune Street, under the A10 highway. It neighbors Peel Bassin, on the Lachine Canal. This piece of land, like all of Montreal, is unceded land of the Kanienʼkehá:ka Nation.
Parkour is an urban sport, it is practiced in the city. But the city is made of privately owned or managed land. The reality is that parkour is generally not welcome anywhere. This causes outdoor practice to be confrontational and non-inclusive.
A significant portion of training sessions can be spent walking around looking for a place where the practice goes unnoticed. This is annoying: athletes want to train, not walk around and argue with people who do not understand the sport.
Montreal's first parkour gym closed at the start of COVID. This left parkour athletes without a dedicated training location. The Trekfit park under the bridge became the go-to place for many, especially during winter. Check out this awesome video from back then by Emil Shevelev.
Since 2021, the Trekfit park has evolved into an open air gym thanks to the continued efforts of Youri Juteau. You can support Youri's vision here.
But with all the additional equipement and the ever growing fitness crowd, there is simply no more place for parkour there. This left once again the community without a dedicated outdoor location to train.
Speakeasy is a community-funded initiative that needs all the love it can get.
Your support directly helps the parkour community by providing local parkour athletes with the most awesome location to train outdoor and making it more accessible and inclusive to learn parkour.
All funds go toward the maintenance and improvement of the park.
Short on cash? We know the feeling. How about signing our petition?
It takes 2 minutes to make a difference.
Speakeasy is a community built DIY park. Its existence is ultimately tied to the city's good will. By letting your voice be known you are helping us convince the city to let the park be.
The Montreal parkour community strongly recommends learning parkour at an establishment affiliated with Parkour Quebec before progressing outside to minimize the risk of injury and ensure competent coaching is in place
