Urban park design approved
City to seek private firm to erct building at ShishKabob Hut; Louis St. closing to traffic soon
The design for the new urban park downtown got approval from city council on Monday night.
The $5.5-million park is going to replace the Louis St. parking lot. It will also cover part of Louis St. (which will be closed to traffic for good).
Construction of the park is expected to start in April 2018 and be done by December.
At a planning meeting on Sept. 5, councillors gave preliminary approval to the park design and also voted to close part of Louis St. Those plans got a final vote before council on Monday.
The park design - from the firm AECOM - calls for a large oval that would be used in summer for the downtown farmers’ market and in winter as a refrigerated skating rink.
There will also be a performance stage and some ground geysers (to give kids relief from summer heat) as well as gardens and trees.
Closing the street this fall is going to mean the city can demolish the former Shish-Kabob Hut restaurant building in November.
The city bought the building from Coun. Don Vassiliadis last year for $220,000 (Vassiliadis declared a conflict and didn’t vote on the plan).
The idea is to tear down the former Shish-Kabob Hut and seek a firm to erect a new building for the park, in a public-private partnership.
The building will include washrooms, storage, a heated zamboni garage and a small office for the park attendant on the ground floor.
But city urban design planner Brian Buchardt told councillors on Sept. 5 that the building could be up to six storeys high - so there’s potential for the private company to put condos or apartments on the upper floors. In other business at City Hall on Monday night:
New Evinrude Centre signs:
City council voted a final time to get new interior and exterior digital signs at the Evinrude Centre - all thanks to a new sponsorship deal with local company Movingmedia Inc.
Under the deal the city will pay $100,000 toward indoor signage, as well as covering the cost of electricity and internet to operate those signs. But that’s going to be offset by an estimated $28,000 in annual revenue from streaming digital ads.
Meanwhile, Movingmedia will pay $115,000 to upgrade the exterior sign and also cover utility costs to operate it. The company will also provide free ad space on the sign to the city, and sell additional ads on its own (and keep those revenues).
The exterior digital sign at the Evinrude Centre is about 20 years old, councillors heard at City Hall at a meeting earlier this summer.
Purchase of house for Parkway plan:
Council voted a final time to buy a house at 817 Fairbairn St. that is in the vicinity of The Parkway corridor. Although the city still needs to do a more-detailed environmental assessment to start extending The Parkway, council voted to buy this property because it would ultimately be in the way of the road extension - and the owners offered it to the city for sale this summer.
The city will buy the house for $260,345. It may be rented until such a time that construction of The Parkway begins.
New pedestrian signal on Rotary Greenway Trail:
Council voted a final time on a plan to realign the Rotary Trail and install a pedestrian signal at Parkhill Rd. W. The cost, which is $166,158, is being covered by the Tollington Parks Endowment Fund (a special fund established in 1996 by city resident Gordon Tollington, to provide money to improve public parkland).
Staff report on legalizing marijuana:
Council voted a final time to ask city staff for a new report on what the impending legalization of marijuana in Canada is likely to mean for the city of Peterborough (in terms of amending city bylaws and making plans for public health funding, for example).
Coun. Gary Baldwin suggested ordering the report, and council approved the idea. Baldwin said legalization is coming, so the city should be prepared.
Rooming house on Parkhill Rd:
Council voted a final time to defer a decision on rezoning a rooming house on Parkhill Rd.
The owners of the 12-bedroom rooming house at 880 Parkhill Rd. W. applied to convert the building into a duplex (two units, each with six bedrooms).
But the application for rezoning was sent back to staff to determine exactly which residential district zoning classification the building fits into.