WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development

[north 42]

Looks like work is finally starting on the Investors Group conversion of the main floor of the Chrysler building. I was walking by this morning and watched as steel girders and drywall were being moved into the doors of the Pitt st. Entrance. It also looks like some walls are going up already next to the Keg entrance.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by north 42

Looks like work is finally starting on the Investors Group conversion of the main floor of the Chrysler building. I was walking by this morning and watched as steel girders and drywall were being moved into the doors of the Pitt st. Entrance. It also looks like some walls are going up already next to the Keg entrance.

I saw the fencing on the weekend but I was unsure as to what was going on in there.

Yay! Finally. I think this will be another big boost to downtown.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Symz

I saw the fencing on the weekend but I was unsure as to what was going on in there.

Yay! Finally. I think this will be another big boost to downtown.

Yup, especially since it's one of Windsor's signature office towers, having the ground floor mostly filled is an important part of downtown's revival and image.

[Jacob]

It's nice to see some development downtown. We still have quite a ways to go though. Driving down Oullette you can still see blocks worth of empty storefronts.. It's quite depressing...

What our downtown needs is something that makes it feel more like the downtown of a important city. Ours seems to me like a small town with lots of cars. I don't know what it would need but I always feel like something is missing... Anyone else get that sometimes?

[Symz]

Originally Posted by Jacob

I don't know what it would need but I always feel like something is missing... Anyone else get that sometimes?

I've always felt like that, I've felt like that since I started going to downtown bars to drink at 19 and even now and I'm 33. I can definitely say that downtown right now to me feels like it has more people walking around in the day than what I remember years back. What downtown is missing is DENSITY. Windsor is plagued with under utilized or often empty, vacant lots in it's downtown. We need infill.

Downtown also needs to expand a bit.

[north 42]

I think once the University campus opens downtown, the core should feel busier and livelier. What we really need though is more office workers and more office towers. Of coarse, more residential would also help.

[Riversideguy]

I know it is kind of a waste of money, however I always thought windsor was missing a "landmark" Something tall and crazy looking perhaps at the foot of Riverside and Ouellette that can be seen all the way up Ouellette; some form of art maybe. I could be wrong but it seems every city has something like that.

[north 42]

I have always thought that Windsor needed to invest in some really interesting sculptures and other works of art, and disperse them in various parts of the core. They would add much needed interest and would give the downtown a completely different feel from the current state of the core. The city would benefit from these works in many ways, especially in how others perceive our area.

[Symz]

There has been a lot of emphasis on the riverfront and that's great and all, the riverfront is beautiful, a real gem. Every time it's nice out I see tonnes of people out there. What the city needs to do is put some emphasis on other parts of downtown. Make downtown more about just the river, bring people down into the core. The core is soo small and it needs a lot of work still, too many vacant store fronts, too many empty undeveloped lots or surface parking lots. There's not enough retail and everything seems to be focused on just a few streets. We need to bring life to other streets downtown.

[north 42]

I think it is possible for retail to be successful in the core, BB Branded has a great business, and has spent a lot to renovate their store. If we could just get a few more stores that offer something different from Devonshire Mall in the core, it would create a critical mass of retail, and would draw people downtown. I don't think this would happen over night, but hopefully it will gather steam once the university campus' open.
We also need more interesting people spaces throughout the core for relaxing and people watching.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by north 42

We also need more interesting people spaces throughout the core for relaxing and people watching.

We have Charles Clark Square which outside of skating season seems empty every time I pass by i, even with the new tables they set up.

I was downtown last week and I parked on Goyeau adjacent to the park at city hall and I was disgusted at the sight of every garbage can in that park was overflowing with garbage and IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF CITY HALL. I thought to myself wtf is going on with this city, it makes for a poor first impression if anyone was going to city hall for the first time. This is supposed to be a people place also.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Symz

We have Charles Clark Square which outside of skating season seems empty every time I pass by i, even with the new tables they set up.

I was downtown last week and I parked on Goyeau adjacent to the park at city hall and I was disgusted at the sight of every garbage can in that park was overflowing with garbage and IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF CITY HALL. I thought to myself wtf is going on with this city, it makes for a poor first impression if anyone was going to city hall for the first time. This is supposed to be a people place also.

I notice that too, makes the city look down and out. I also hate how the cement planters on Ouellette are full of weeds and half the shrubs that were planted in them last year are pulled out, dead, and still laying in them. I think the city should have at least one person to keep an eye on things and replant the plants that get pulled out every weekend, instead of just letting them lay where ever they get tossed.
The city spends so much money beautifying Ouellette, it makes no sense to just let it get destroyed every weekend.

[RoseCityFreePress]

I think that Windsor needs more monuments in and around downtown. Sure we have little one down by the river but i think we could use more showings of Windsor and Canadian History in high traffic areas. My first thought would be the "bangladesh peace clock" sure its nice but its little and easily forgettable. when i look across the river i think of the Fist of Joe Louis and massive statue of Gen. Washington that they put on boulevards right in middle of the street. As much as i like our little clock i think a nice BIG statue of Gen. Brock or Sir John A. would be a much better fit. It adds history, its a talking point, and its something to vist on tours of the City. Windsors monuments are very forgettable.

[north 42]

Even large, colourful abstract sculptures would liven up the core, I like the one by Charles Clark Square, the bright red really sticks out and is just fun to look at.

Chicago has amazing sculptures and art placed all over their downtown, and it's awesome.

[Riversideguy]

Originally Posted by north 42

Even large, colourful abstract sculptures would liven up the core, I like the one by Charles Clark Square, the bright red really sticks out and is just fun to look at.

Chicago has amazing sculptures and art placed all over their downtown, and it's awesome.

Chicago Sculptures. Now thats what I'm talking about. The big mirror thing there is awsome. Would love something crazy like that downtown.

If you look across the water you can see that heart plaza has a sculpture that is clearly visable. I sometimes think that Windsor is incapable of looking outside of the box. It drives me nuts because I think WIndsor has so much potential.

[Jacob]

If Downtown Windsor is going to be a successful downtown, we are going to need a way to get people moving down there. There are not very many buses and the streets aren't going to be able to handle a lot of traffic and we will eventually run out of parking. If you were to use a bus, you will need multiple transfers and will be waiting quite some time for a bus to come, about a half an hour or more. Right now I am in Downtown Mississauga, it's beautiful. Although it is much larger than Windsor, I still can't believe how much different it is. You can't walk down a street here without seeing one of those double-length buses, and they run down every block. Windsor needs to get people moving.

This isn't to bash Transit Windsor, they work with what they've got (which isn't a heck of a lot) It's just a thought.

[Symz]

Drove past the Chrysler building today and saw lots of work already done on the ground floor with much of the floor already subdivided. It looks as though the whole portion fronting Riverside will be occupied with some vacancy still left along Pitt street.

[RoseCityFreePress]

Big Weekend for events in this area, The Grand Prix, Art in the Park, Strawberry Fest, Yanks vs. Tigers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beaver Fest. This is one of those big City weekends that places like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto dont even get. But We Do

[Symz]

There is now a live webcam of the aquatic centre construction. The camera is mounted atop the art gallery of Windsor.

http://www.citywindsor.ca/mayorandcounci...Pages/Family-Aquatic-Complex-Camera.aspx

[Symz]

aquatic centre from today by me