Many southern Ontario cities reviving shorelines on Thames & Grand waterways
By Mark
Schadenberg
When communities like
Woodstock, Paris, Cambridge, Guelph and most certainly London were
beginning to flourish (give or take) around the 1830's, there was a
desire to build industry and commerce along the waterways as the
various mills needed H2O, but so did all manufacturing needs.
Now, a mere 180 years
later, these many brownfields or retired commercial lots, which also
include prominent architecture such as hospitals, are seeing a new
purpose and in many cases it's greenspaces as the focus and a secondary
residential / quiet commercial use.
The Forks Of The Thames
in London and upstream easterly to the South Street hospital will be
undergoing tremendous changes in future years. Not only is the SoHo
hospital (Expansive buildings are currently getting demolished) lands
under a complete transformation already with an apparent dominant focus on greenspace
along the actual shore of the Thames, but there are plans to
revitalize the 'environmentally damaged' hydro property along Horton,
and a new look for land just west of the utility property. You can
read all the links, but it's obvious that residentially focused
shoreline could be the way of the future in all of these communities
– interspersed with commercial (NOT manufacturing or industrial,
but rather retail, offices or institutional uses such as a library)
utilization as well.
That's great news !
Woodstock's city council is discussing Pittock
Lake and expanding a trail loop akin to creating 'Central Park' as
the city explodes on the north side of Pittock in AlderGrange and
Havelock Corners subdivisions.
(http://markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2014/09/woodstock-trails-and-central-park-parks.html)
CAMBRIDGE / GALT
In Cambridge, or should I clarify by saying Galt,
the Grand River waterway is evolving. Thoughts are meandering to more
and more parks and trails along the water. More great news !
With the microscope of the aptly named Water
Street in Cambridge, the city's council has officially announced it's
in the process of buying a building next to the old historic post
office, because mayor Doug Craig said to the Waterloo Region Record
newspaper that the building is vital: “It's going to give us
access to the river.”
Cambridge's plans include building a pedestrian
bridge. Here's an edited excerpt from two stories published earlier this year:
Cambridge
has embarked on a plan to make the banks of the Grand River through
the Galt area accessible by foot, planning to build walkways and
other features to bring people in the Galt area in closer contact
with the river.
The
city has earmarked $1.95 million in its capital forecast to perform
"core areas improvement" work such as river beautification
between 2014 and 2018.
Architects
unveiled the initial design of the City of Cambridge's $11 million
transformation of the 130-year-old Galt Post Office to mixed reviews
from residents.
Heritage advocates expressed concern that entire walls of the original stone structure will be covered by new rooms made entirely of glass.
Architects from Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc., unveiled a roughly 7,000 square foot glass addition to the existing building, wrapping along the south and west sides of the property and hanging over the side of the flood wall along the Grand. The plan calls for the existing structure to house a reading space, bar area, children's discovery lounge, a theatre space and top-floor "maker space" containing laser cutters and 3D printers. The glass addition will connect to the stone walls and house an eating area, a meeting room, an elevator and a large outdoor terrace area overlooking the Grand River.
With the existing structure, the design contains 14,800 square feet of usable space.
Cambridge chief administrative officer Gary Dyke interjected to say the renovated building goes with a worldwide trend of cities "transitioning from traditional uses for a library" to focus more on digital technology and creative space for young people.
"We have to recognize that two blocks away we have the main library which is primarily for book collection," Hayton added, referring to the Queen's Square Library. "What we're doing is identifying what the future of a library is going to look like."
Christine Rier of Heritage Cambridge expressed concern that the glass addition, which covers much of the original building facing the Grand River, is not "sympathetic" to the existing structure, which contradicts heritage preservation rules.
A Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc. representative replied there simply wasn't enough space inside the existing structure to contain all of the functions Idea Exchange officials and councillors wanted in the new building.
Bob Paul, the city's director of sustainable design and development, said the city plans to complete the bidding for the project by January 2015, with construction and renovation work to begin in March 2015.
Cambridge city council will vote on whether to endorse the design proposal at its July 14 (2014) council meeting.
()()()()()()()()()()()()
Back in Woodstock, the
original fairgrounds and athletics (track and field) facility was
along the Thames River approximately where the former Thomas Bus and
Eureka Foundry lands are. The Queen's Plate was once raced in
Woodstock there along with significant track and field events (Picture below was dated 1896 - 1910). The
forefathers should have never permitted this 'zoning' change, but it
happened. You can not turn back the clock on all changes as it would
appear Tecumseh Street will continue its commercial focus for many
more years.
Currently, the applause
sign must stay on so that in future years our parks and nature areas
remain as such. The caveat though is always this, and I've said it
before: All parks must be maintained with trails groomed and pruned.
We must nurture nature, but not triple the parks budget in the
process.
CAMBRIDGE
LINKS:
WOODSTOCK
LINK:
Look
back at two-part extensive blog I wrote in September
LONDON
LINKS:
When looking For A Home In Oxford County, contact:
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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