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 __ Whig 20080117(Updated: 2008.01.17 12:25:30 PM) |
Back to the drawing board; City seeks more input for Block D park
By Jordan PressPlans for a park along the waterfront at Block D went back to the public last night.
However, there was enough criticism from residents that there will be more meetings to consult with the public on the design of the park, which will sit behind four waterfront highrise buildings on Ontario Street between Gore and William streets.
City staff will hold as many public meetings on the green space as necessary to "get it right," said Mark Fluhrer, director of parks and recreation.
"We didn't want to lose this opportunity to set the bar" for park development, he said.
Getting the park just right was on the minds of the residents that attended the public meeting at City Hall.
"This is our best hope to do something positive for Block D," said Anita Krebs, chair of the Sydenham Ward Tenants and Ratepayers Association, which represents residents in the neighbourhood that includes Block D.
The plans would see that the entrances to the park, at the ends of William, Gore and Earl streets, ensure that passersby know there is a park there. Decorative bollards, increased lighting and banners are proposed to ensure that passersby know there is a park on the property.
"It seems to have accommodated many of the suggestions that came from the public," said David Gordon, an urban planning professor from Queen's University. The key for the future is concentrating on how the park will connect with other pieces of the waterfront, he said.
Staff and the park designer noted several times during the meeting that people will see something at the ends of the streets leading to the park, which is essentially private property except for a walkway around the edge of the site.
However, there were also concerns from residents that everything being added would make it difficult to see the waterfront from the other side of Ontario Street.
"If you put too much there, I'm going to lose my view of the water," said resident Helen Finley, a longtime city hall watchdog. "I caution you about cluttering the view. ... Less is more."
The revised plans, updated from ones released during a public meeting in June, removed a number of items that had been proposed in the park, including a number of trees that would have been planted. Krebs didn't want to see too many trees removed from the site.
"We've got a chance to leave some trees here," she said during the meeting. "I find it shameful that we have an overdeveloped piece of property and ... we're going to cut down old trees."
Landscape architect Scott Wentworth said the developer, Homestead Land Holdings Limited, will try to keep as many trees on the site as possible, if they can be saved.
A walkway from William Street into the park will be about 2.3 metres wide, although the remainder of the path along the perimeter of the park will be six metres wide. The placement of the Marriott hotel's parking lot on the site buffers one side of the walkway and a seawall on the other prevents it from being enlarged.
"You play with the hand you're dealt," said Councillor Bill Glover, who represents the area.
He added that he was happy that the remainder of the waterfront pathway will be increased in size.
"From what I was first shown ... to where we are now, we've come a very long way," he said.
There could have been more trees on the site, specifically closer to the Gore Road portion of the park, to break the winds coming in off Lake Ontario.
Park planners looked at planting a large number of coniferous trees, but concerns about maintenance scrapped the plan. Instead, staff have proposed sail sculptures be added to the corner to capture and deflect winds.
"They're just an idea at this point in time," said planner Kristine Hebert. "We know we have to do something in that corner. ... We're open to ideas."
The first phase of work on the park is expected to take place in the spring so the park can be ready by the end of the summer.
Comments on the revised park design can be sent online to blockd park@cityofkingston.ca until Friday, Feb. 15.