Brownfield Roundup in the MHBP 'hood

There are many exciting things happening to old industrial buildings in our neighbourhood. It seems that genuine urban renewal is underway and that is a great thing.

Before discussing the brownfield areas I wanted to summarize some of the general plans for the Victoria and King street area. As we all know, the University of Waterloo's School of Pharmacy has been located at the King/Victoria intersection for a few years, and next to it McMaster University has a satellite medical campus. These buildings are just across from the revitalized Tannery building and the pub there has become a popular hub.

I listened to several great bands at the Kitchener Blues Festival this summer and was walking back home along Charles St. and the pub's patio was full of people eating and drinking and many were inside as well, and the colourful signs of Google, Desire2Learn etc. adorned the old brick walls. It was easy to think that things were turning around for the downtown and, by osmosis, the MHBP area as well.

Future development in the Victoria Street area, from King to Duke, will include a transit hub described in articles here and here.  GO trains traveling between Kitchener and Toronto on December 19 and the transit hub will only increase their ease of access. Of course there will also be an LRT stop in this area which will make it extremely easy to travel to here without a car. So we will have science and technology and transportation within a few blocks of each other. Awesome!

Right next to all this activity is The Breithaupt Block which is currently being renovated.  There are some great photos of this work on the Breithaupt Block's Facebook page. The MHBPNA Blog has posted two articles on this development: the background to the buildings and a very special "inside" the Breithaupt Block tour.

Speaking of the Breithaupt Block and Facebook, there are rumours that Facebook is planning a "major presence" in Kitchener and will be renting space in this development. If this comes to fruition then it will be a real coup for the BB folks.

Another brownfield project is located on the opposite side of our neighbourhood at Louisa and St. Leger on the old Breithaupt Tannery/Pannill Veneer site. The buildings burned down a few years back and it was a great place to ride a mountain bike. For the past several months there have been environmental assessments and analysis and many big machines levelling the area. Wonderful Waterloo has posted this excellent series of photos. Be sure to read down to the bottom because there are some great "artist renderings" of the condos to be known as "1 Adam Street" and some good discussion. Pretty impressive.

Thanks to our Blog reader Ryan for drawing my attention to the above set of photos and discussion.

Finally, the third brownfield is at the corner of Shanley and Duke. Last year The Record published an article about this building and its long history of contamination and tax evasion. This summer I was part of a group that saw some tentative plans for the building and they looked fabulous. The latest news is that a developer is working on purchasing the building to develop into condos. There are many issues to deal with including legal wrangling, back taxes and environmental cleanup but there is room for optimism. We should know by next summer and the MHBPNA Blog promises to update all our faithful readers at that time.

Christmas is coming

Blog updates are coming as well. Remember that you cannot park overnight on streets or tickets will accrue. Lots of great things happening in our neighbourhood including the apparent arrival of Facebook! Still no snow and the weather is balmy for this time of year. Of course rainy and grey doesn't help a lot, but it is still nice.

The next NMA meeting is in February. I will post at year end update at some point but the MHBPNA Blog wishes everyone a great holiday season.

Spur Rail Line proposals

One of our Blog readers sent the following information which is very interesting. Thanks so much for the update!

The Region is proposing to create a multi-use trail along the Spur Rail Line (the one that cuts across Weber at George Lippert Park and runs all the way to uptown Waterloo). 

 

Here are the draft plans from last week's public consultation open house at regional headquarters (I think this was the 2nd public consultation on the plans, with the first held sometime late summer). Starting on p. 12 are some maps/graphics of where the trail would run through the neighbourhood, and what they’re recommending for design of the trail.

 

http://regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/resources/WaterlooSpurLineMulti-useTrailFeasibilityandDesignStudyPCC2FULLv8.pdf

 

I think this is a pretty cool project to formalize the use of the rail line as a path for cyclists, walkers, etc., and to connect neighbourhoods with one another. From a public health (i.e. encouraging active modes of transport/commuting/physical activity) standpoint trails like this are a great thing. From a neighbourhood building perspective (getting people out of their houses and talking to each other) trails like this are also a great thing. 

 

The proposed designs so far seem pretty thoughtful from an accessibility and user safety perspective. After reading the plans what do you think? They’re still looking for public comment from people in the neighbourhood, so if you have any thoughts for or against the idea, or recommendations to the coordinators/designers for how to do ensure the end product is something we all want to use and are proud of, you can send an email to the project coordinator, Hanan Wahib HWahib@regionofwaterloo.ca.

 

I guess this whole thing is still in the "proposed" stage and that funds haven't been officially approved/allocated for the construction, so perhaps they are still waiting to make sure that there is public support for the idea. I guess it's been in the works for many years now. Some neighbourhood residents at the consultation last night talked about having used the trail (the informal worn path that's there now along the rail line) for 40 years!

On page 9 of the report it states they would like feedback by November 10.

Great neighbourhood pumpkin patch

In Duke Street Playground, on November 1st, we had the first "pumpkin patch" organized by the folks at Little City Farm. It was fun to see the people and their children out (swinging and playing on the equipment in the spooky evening). 

The trek to the playground was made via cars, vans, feet and lots of wagons. Much conversation and fun was had and it is planned to be repeated next year. For more information, and better photos, click on this link.

Central Art Walk this weekend!

The annual Central Art Walk is coming to our neighbourhood this weekend (Oct 22 and 23, 2011). For a map of all artists who are participating, click on this link.

For a nice poster of the event, click here. Feel free to print the poster and advertise the walk.

The main website for the art walk is here and includes a brochure you can view or print out.

It is always an enjoyable activity to go for a weekend walk around the area and drop in on a few artists to see what they have been doing. See you there!

Survey for Waterloo Region NetSquared Group

Here is a link to a survey. NetSquared is a social networking organization interested in technology and social impact. They have groups in over 80 cities around the world and KW seems like a logical area for them start another.

OK, the above link was to the general posting about interest in a local NetSquared group. The actual survey is here.

The Boathouse thing

I find the current situation with the Boathouse to be ridiculous and sad at the same time. I have written to city councillors to voice my frustration with the way the city is handling this. The Boathouse has provided 6 nights a week of music and after it is closed there will be silence.

Here is a link to a Facebook Group organized to "save the boathouse". And here is a link to the city's explanation which seems a little flat. The city will close the Boathouse  and then a city committee is going to direct "staff to explore ways the city can lend this community a helping hand". Wow. They can lend a hand by continuing to lease the Boathouse after they dredge the lake!

Frankly, I think the space in the Boathouse is too small, but the location is excellent and it has been a vibrant part of the arts community for several years. What does the city think they will replace it with?

The city's article ends: "The city has not yet considered the future use of the Boathouse building or the building at 79 Joseph St. to determine the best uses for both in the long-term." The sentence is ungrammatical, bureaucratic and just plain sad.