Northern Ontario developments!

[vid]

The Whalen Building is just under two years away from its centenary. It will cost ten million to bring the building up to modern standards. City councillors don't want to spend that much, so the city solicitor has put demolition on the table. In the middle of a plan to turn it into a research hub.

This city's administration is composed of the stupidest people on Earth.



What city in its right mind would demolish a fully occupied, highly visible, class A office space in a heritage building in its downtown core? What city in its right mind would even consider that?

[russman]

The day the Whalen Building is demolished is the day I move out of T Bay.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

There's hardly any heritage architecture (especially "skyscrapers") in Northern Ontario; it would be a travesty to let the Whalen Building be demolished!

[tjernobyl]

My prediction: corrugated metal siding.

[vid]

This city has an unnatural fetish for corrugated metal siding. It's disgusting and unnatural.

You would think, having a forestry economy, that we would have buildings that have wood on their facades, but no. None of our buildings do, and none of our new buildings will.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by vid

This city has an unnatural fetish for corrugated metal siding. It's disgusting and unnatural.

You would think, having a forestry economy, that we would have buildings that have wood on their facades, but no. None of our buildings do, and none of our new buildings will.

That is rather unfortunate.

[toaster]

Timmins Updates:

Another new seniors home is beginning construction in Timmins. A second Extendicare will be built in Timmins beside Ecole Secondaire Renaissance in the west-end. This is the third new seniors home to be developed recently, after the Wallford on Tamarack, and Autumnwood's current construction downtown.


A new Swiss Chalet will be opening as a new pad in the Timmins Square parking lot. Also, Lids and Campus Crew are new stores opening in the mall.

Two new hotels are confirmed to begin construction soon, and 1 other is rumored.
Hampton Inn and Suites is being developed downtown beside the 101 Mall (and will be connected to the mall). The hotel development involves an approximate $12-million investment in the city's downtown core. The proposed Hampton Inn Hotel and Convention Centre will be an eight-storey complex, approximately 730 square metres (7,875 square feet).


Comfort Inn and Suites is going to be constructed behind the Fishbowl restaurant on Riverside Drive.


Holiday Inn Express is rumored to still being in discussions to construct a hotel at North-West corner of Algonquin and Mountjoy. Holiday Inn said they would no longer proceed after The City of Timmins declined to overlook 500,000$ in costs related to the project, but rumors are that it will still proceed (perhaps under a different name). Here is a rendering of the project.

[vid]

MESH Thunder Bay. I'm still not entirely sure what this is about but it seems interesting and James at Netnewsledger says their meeting the other day was very exciting.

The city has shortlisted 7 sites in 5 areas for the multiplex. They are:

1 - Downtown Port Arthur between Camelot, Water, Van Norman and Cumberland in one of three configurations:

A: A multiplex with a bus terminal on its ground floor
B: A multiplex with convention space on its ground floor
C: A multiplex with a parkade on its ground floor

The "ground floor" is referring to the "basement" level that will be at ground level on Water Street, due to the slope. Buses would enter via Water Street, but it looks like a parkade configuration will use Van Norman.

Any of these may involve a pedestrian overpass, and the closure of Van Norman street to accommodate it and access to the underground parking. They don't say if an overpass will be in addition to or a replacement of the existing overpass.

2 - North of the Airport, just past the new Hilton. It would be built set back considerably from Arthur Street and accessed via the road allowance at the end of Hawker Road

3 - Innova Park south of Capital Way

4 - Innova Park north of Capital Way

5 - Games Complex Area, replacing Port Arthur Arena

6 - Games Complex Area, replacing parking west of Auditorium with a 3-level parkade replacing the baseball diamond to the north

7 - Pool Six site, with a parkade west of the Arena and a new road running along the east side of the CN rail yard connecting Marina Park to Kirkland Street

The DTPA configuration with a bus terminal will cost just under 80 million, while the Pool Six site will cost just under 130 million.

Downtown Fort William locations were ruled out because the Fort William Gardens site it too small, and due to lack of city owned properties large enough and cohesive enough elsewhere in the core to allow construction. The DTPA location is the cheapest because the city already owns that entire block, and it is the only site currently zoned to allow the construction of a multiplex, meaning construction could begin as soon as funding is secured. All other locations would require some combinations of land acquisition and re-zoning, which delays the construction process. Unknown soil conditions were also cited as concerns for the airport, Innova Park and Pool Six locations as the first two are swampy and they last one is reclaimed land.

If the link works, you can view the study here.

Also, Google Maps has updated the city's imagery showing a satellite photo from April, 2010. Notable changes include the Courthouse construction, Isabel retirement home, new City Hall, Superior CVI, Prince Arthur's Landing construction, Airport runway expansion and development of subdivisions.

[ccnews]

on the St John's NL thread, they already have the team "booking ice time", from what I'm reading its all still up in the air
Manitoba Moose, I should have said

both Thunder Bay and St John's NL are in the running to get this team, IF the Atlanta Thrashers go to Winnipeg


there will be two open houses on June 1, 2, the 1st being at the Da Vinci Centre, the other being at the Italian Cultural Centre.


"A proposed multiplex project for Thunder Bay is by no means a done deal, says city manager Tim Commisso.

But that's not stopping city administration from seeking public input as the planning phase moves into its next stage – narrowing down site locations and business models for more detailed study. The public will get that opportunity on June 1 and 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at a pair of open houses to be staged respectively at the Da Vinci Centre and Italian Cultural Centre."--Tbnewswatch.com

[vid]

I still think downtown Fort William is the best place for it, but downtown Port Arthur is the second best place.

The Airport and any predominantly residential area is the worst. Innova Park isn't too bad, but it's too far removed from the city. We've gone from everyone complaining about how you can't access the area to everyone complaining that it's the only place to put stuff.

If you haven't been to Fort William lately, at least look towards it: The Courthouse crane is up!







You can see it from Superstore. I don't know if they'll get a tower crane later on or not; I don't think there are any in the area. Like City Hall, I have a feeling that that area is going to look very nice once it is done, it will feel like you're in a different, better city. Hopefully we see some investment in the offices around the area.

[ccnews]

Innova "business" Park - for an arena yes - for a multiplex NO - too far away from everything

downtown Fort William, I would love that as I'm originally from the East End and I would really like to see that area come back

College or University property - for an arena yes - for a multiplex NO - UNLESS the College decides to denote the land that is bordered by Barton and William

Port Arthur Arena area - ???

Pool 6 area - too costly, but might be the only option in case we want to expand or have a Curling Centre attached

Water Street bus terminal - looks like the only option, close to everything, and the city manager keeps bringing up the part of Northern Growth Plan’s

[vid]

Gravelle said that the province would support another location if the city could satisfy the province that that was the right location. I doubt the city would be able to satisfy the province, I think he is just posturing for the election. I seriously doubt the province will support it in Innova Park unless we're doing to do like Markham and fill the surrounding part of it with high rise condos and smart retail development, and I don't see that happening, as much as I'd like to see more density and residential uses in Intercity.

The Port Arthur Arena area might work, but, we would have to remove the green space in the area to accommodate it and to build developments that can feed off of it to make the investment worthwhile. Opportunity Thunder Bay (I think it was them) has a campaign of sorts to get the area south of John and north of second turned into a "skyscraper district". (I personally think that kind of development would be better located in the Intercity area.) If we can get the residential and business development down there, we could make it work, but probably at the expense of downtown Port Arthur.

There are some rumours going around TBNewswatch that the hotel developer at the waterfront (still unnamed) is pressing them for the multiplex in PA to make their investment work. It seems suspicious but I still think that that area is the most feasible of the areas identified in the report.

[ccnews]

having the multiplex near the waterfront would be a plus for the new hotel

[F. Lionel]

The Brew Pub is finally coming down to be replaced with a 24hr Shoppers Drug Mart.

This definitely means there will be another vacancy at County Fair but I wonder if they will close the Shoppers at Grandview?

Bentley has also closed up shop at County Fair but have opened a new location at Arthur Street Marketplace.

Campus Crew is coming to Intercity (beside Payless). Tim Horton's is still supposed to be renovated but are finalizing details for a temporary location. A&W in Intercity is also due for a renovation but there is no finalized time line for that to take place. Tabi has closed. Bath & Bodyworks is supposed to be coming to the Mall. There is a new tenant in final negotiations for the former Jacob Connextion location but nothing is finalized so nothing is announced.

Subway has opened at the corner of Oliver and Golf Links. The framing is going up on the building next to Quality Market.

Mounds of fill are being brought to the corner of Beverly and Balmoral to ready that lot for the residential construction. Did the developer get their exemption in order to increase the height of their building?

About a month ago the University tore down the Evans House along Oliver Road. Almost all the original houses have been removed from the University's property.

The Swiss Chalet sign has been pulled from the Harbour Crossing site. Maybe something new will go in there after all? The Intercity area could use a new Burger King.

Mongo's sign is in place and hopefully will open soon on Memorial. One of the other open spaces in that strip also looks like it's filled with construction materials.

Been through downtown FW a few times in the last couple of weeks. It's nice to see all the new construction going on. It's going to look quite nice once it's all finished up. Now if only something else would get going on the other half of the old McKellar site.

[vid]

Granite tiles are being installed on the ground floor façade of the DSSAB building, they're very nice. It's going to be a pretty good building.



The metal awning things above the windows will have solar panels, and block the bright summer sun to keep the building cool. They're high enough so that low winter sun will be let in, warming the building. My apartment has a similar feature and it works very well, more buildings should have this.

[The Lakehead]

In your opinion, to support the proposed Multiplex on the current site of the Water Street Bus Terminal, would turning the area bounded by Camelot Street, Red River Road, Court Street South, and Cumberland Street all into pedestrian streets be a good idea?

The thought behind the idea is that the Heart of the Harbour Parkade is just across from Cooke Street. People would walk through that area to get to the Multiplex and give lots of exposure to businesses there. It would also give the same exposure when they go back to their vehicles.

This area receives little traffic and both Cooke Street and St. Paul Street are one-way streets anyway, so it won't disrupt flow of traffic that much. I do foresee a problem if significant numbers use the Heart of the Harbour Parkade. I foresee that many will jaywalk, instead of going through the intersection, which is a pretty big safety issue, but there are ways around it.

The inspiration for the idea comes from where my parents are from: Portugal. In Portugal, they have lots of these pedestrian streets and they're very popular. Often there are benches and tables with umbrellas and chairs in the middle for the general use of the public. It also can facilitate patio-style restaurants.


Credit to nelsonjasonnelson on flickr.

This picture is just behind the Triumphal Arch in Lisbon. The patterned cobblestone is really popular in Portugal.

I think Thunder Bay can pull off something similar. The biggest impediment to it is the winter. In Lisbon something like this is more effective because the weather is always nice there. It would take some creativity to make this work in a more northern climate. The area would be pretty well sheltered from wind and snow, considering it's surrounded by buildings. But it would require serious maintenance to make it snow and ice free to make it safe for people to walk on.

[vid]

Originally Posted by The Lakehead

In your opinion, to support the proposed Multiplex on the current site of the Water Street Bus Terminal, would turning the area bounded by Camelot Street, Red River Road, Court Street South, and Cumberland Street all into pedestrian streets be a good idea?

Red River Road is the dividing line for Port Arthur's north and south "quadrants" (there is no east or west), so it is bounded by North Court Street. That's where I originally wanted to see the multiplex built, if it were to be built in Port Arthur. (My first choice was on Simpson between Cumming and Miles, where the Triple Nickel once stood.)

Aside from the parking issues (that area has a lot of parking lots), I think it would work pretty well. Set it up like the market in Prince Arthur's Landing or a previously discussed idea for Victoria Avenue East, where the landscaping and paving is pedestrian oriented but the area is opened to cars during the off season (which would take care of what to do with the area in winter).

Originally Posted by The Lakehead

The thought behind the idea is that the Heart of the Harbour Parkade is just across from Cooke Street. People would walk through that area to get to the Multiplex and give lots of exposure to businesses there. It would also give the same exposure when they go back to their vehicles.

This area receives little traffic and both Cooke Street and St. Paul Street are one-way streets anyway, so it won't disrupt flow of traffic that much. I do foresee a problem if significant numbers use the Heart of the Harbour Parkade. I foresee that many will jaywalk, instead of going through the intersection, which is a pretty big safety issue, but there are ways around it.

We could also build a parkade in the area. Not sure how we would access it since all the lots on Court Street are occupied by buildings that shouldn't be demolished, though. Maybe keep Van Norman open and have that street serve as access to the parkade (which may or may not replace the Legion and the building Michael Gravelle's office is in) while the Cooke Street facade would be retail only at street level. Have businesses on Red River open up their back sides for retail on that road, or have the storefronts split into Red River Road and Cooke Street sides.

Originally Posted by The Lakehead

The inspiration for the idea comes from where my parents are from: Portugal. In Portugal, they have lots of these pedestrian streets and they're very popular. Often there are benches and tables with umbrellas and chairs in the middle for the general use of the public. It also can facilitate patio-style restaurants.


Credit to nelsonjasonnelson on flickr.

This picture is just behind the Triumphal Arch in Lisbon. The patterned cobblestone is really popular in Portugal.

Portugal is nice, but it isn't North America. We have a culture of never going outside and doing everything from our cars that they don't have, so pedestrian-only areas are more difficult to achieve here, especially in small, car-oriented cities. That's why the "pedestrians in summer/cars in winter" concept makes sense.

Originally Posted by The Lakehead

I think Thunder Bay can pull off something similar. The biggest impediment to it is the winter. In Lisbon something like this is more effective because the weather is always nice there. It would take some creativity to make this work in a more northern climate. The area would be pretty well sheltered from wind and snow, considering it's surrounded by buildings. But it would require serious maintenance to make it snow and ice free to make it safe for people to walk on.

I think that will be the biggest hurdle for this idea. When presented to the general public, they'll interpret it as another Keskus. It already requires maintenance to make is snow and ice free enough so that it is safe to walk on, so that won't be as much of an issue.

The biggest issues if we actually do it will be renovating the buildings to accommodate it (since Cooke and St. Paul are more like back alleys than actual streets; Lincoln, Lorne and Ambrose are the same) and building new buildings to make it a worthwhile destination. As it is, there is virtually no retail on Cooke Street, and very little on St. Paul.

At the very least, those two streets should be beautified, and crossing Court at Van Norman safely should be addressed.

—

Tim Hortons on Memorial (beside Swiss Chalet) is being renovated. The restaurant part is closed and the drive through is being done with a trailer in the back.

[Dwils01]

From Sootoday.com

With the completion of the Fort Creek section of the Hub Trail and its increased popularity and use by residents and visitors, the City of Sault Ste. Marie is undertaking the construction of a pavilion and expansion of the parking lot at the Second Line entrance to the Fort Creek conservation area.

[F. Lionel]

Originally Posted by vid

Tim Hortons on Memorial (beside Swiss Chalet) is being renovated. The restaurant part is closed and the drive through is being done with a trailer in the back.

It's also going to house a Cold Stone Creamery once it's finished being renovated.

[The Lakehead]

Originally Posted by vid

Red River Road is the dividing line for Port Arthur's north and south "quadrants" (there is no east or west), so it is bounded by North Court Street. That's where I originally wanted to see the multiplex built, if it were to be built in Port Arthur. (My first choice was on Simpson between Cumming and Miles, where the Triple Nickel once stood.)

Aside from the parking issues (that area has a lot of parking lots), I think it would work pretty well. Set it up like the market in Prince Arthur's Landing or a previously discussed idea for Victoria Avenue East, where the landscaping and paving is pedestrian oriented but the area is opened to cars during the off season (which would take care of what to do with the area in winter).



We could also build a parkade in the area. Not sure how we would access it since all the lots on Court Street are occupied by buildings that shouldn't be demolished, though. Maybe keep Van Norman open and have that street serve as access to the parkade (which may or may not replace the Legion and the building Michael Gravelle's office is in) while the Cooke Street facade would be retail only at street level. Have businesses on Red River open up their back sides for retail on that road, or have the storefronts split into Red River Road and Cooke Street sides.



Portugal is nice, but it isn't North America. We have a culture of never going outside and doing everything from our cars that they don't have, so pedestrian-only areas are more difficult to achieve here, especially in small, car-oriented cities. That's why the "pedestrians in summer/cars in winter" concept makes sense.



I think that will be the biggest hurdle for this idea. When presented to the general public, they'll interpret it as another Keskus. It already requires maintenance to make is snow and ice free enough so that it is safe to walk on, so that won't be as much of an issue.

The biggest issues if we actually do it will be renovating the buildings to accommodate it (since Cooke and St. Paul are more like back alleys than actual streets; Lincoln, Lorne and Ambrose are the same) and building new buildings to make it a worthwhile destination. As it is, there is virtually no retail on Cooke Street, and very little on St. Paul.

At the very least, those two streets should be beautified, and crossing Court at Van Norman safely should be addressed.

—

Tim Hortons on Memorial (beside Swiss Chalet) is being renovated. The restaurant part is closed and the drive through is being done with a trailer in the back.

You're right. It is mostly a back alley, so it would take some significant work to turn it into a viable pedestrian street.

But I think it should be a priority. Most people are going to be forced to park at the Heart of the Harbour parkade and walk the rest of the way. If they do it on the sidewalks of main streets like Red River and Cumberland, it will create commotion and traffic delays if there are throng of pedestrians going through intersections (and probably jaywalking too), preventing people from making left turns. It's only going to add to the chaos.

But if there's a pedestrian street where pedestrians can go from the parkade to the multiplex safely and disrupt traffic minimally, it would probably be better off in the long run.