Memorial Centre Design Charrette

[keoadmin]

Memorial Centre Design Charrette

Williamsville Residents’ Association and Friends of the Memorial Centre


- September 29 - October 1, 2005 -


A joint initiative of Williamsville Residents’ Association and Friends of the Memorial Centre (WRA&FMC) and the Saint Lawrence Valley Society of Architects (SLVSA), a local society of the Ontario Association of Architects

The design charrette is an intensive design exercise in which architects and other design professionals will be volunteering their time to come up with design solutions for the Memorial Centre Site based on the Vision Statement prepared by the Williamsville Residents’ Association and Friends of the Memorial Centre.

Click here (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/admin/common/pdfs/memorial_centre_poster_design_charette_launch1_200 5-09-29.pdf) to see the Memorial Centre Design Charrette poster


Schedule:

Public Information Session and Exchange of Ideas:

7:00 pm, 29th Sept. 2005, Back Hall, Princess St. United Church

Members of the design team will be briefed on the project. Representatives from Kingston Agricultural Society, Kingston Parks & Recreation, Kingston Planning and Queens’ Department of Urban Design have been invited to elaborate on the possibilities, needs and regulations concerning the Memorial Centre site. We also welcome members of the public to come, hear the suggestions and voice their own hopes and dreams for the site.

Design Charrette:

All day Friday, 30th Sept. and Saturday, 1st Oct. 2005, Back Hall, Princess St. United Church

The volunteer design professionals will brainstorm and sketch out how the ideas expressed in the vision could be incorporated on the site in conjunction with the other needs presented at the Public Information Session.

Charrette Presentation: 5:00, 1st Oct. 2005, Back Hall, Princess St. United Church

The plans and sketches will be put up for public review and comment. The design professionals will be there to discuss their ideas and listen to feedback. Everyone is welcome.





PROJECT OUTLINE

This project is a joint initiative of Williamsville Residents’ Association and Friends of the Memorial Centre (WRA&FMC) and the Saint Lawrence Valley Society of Architects (SLVSA), a local society of the Ontario Association of Architects, who will be contributing their time, expertise and equipment for organizing and running the Charrette.

Last year WRA&FMC organized a public meeting in which 300 Kingstonians participated and clearly expressed the significance of the facilities and public greenspace at the Memorial Centre Site in their lives. The 23.6 acres constitutes the most significant open area space in the densely populated district of Williamsville, is the home of Kingston’s 175 year old annual agricultural fair and the location of the Kingston Community Memorial Centre, an arena built to commemorate those Kingstonians who lost their lives in the two world wars and in the Korean War; it was built as a ‘living memorial’ intended for the health and enjoyment of all Kingstonians for generations to come. The site is used over the year by many tens of thousands of people for active sports, leisure activities, entertainment and cultural events.

What was also expressed at the meeting was the neglected and unattractive condition of the site: it is poorly maintained and uninviting and has not evolved with the changing needs of the neighbourhoods and the city. The site does not provide the maximum benefit to the community as a public park and recreation facility; it falls far short of its potential.

Earlier this year, WRA&FMC developed a Vision Statement for the site, which came about with the help of Vaughan Bentley, a Professional Strategic Planner from Bentley Corporate and Community Dynamics. It represents the distillation of many deeply held hopes and desires for the betterment of the Memorial Centre site and facilities to benefit the wider community of Kingston.

The Design Charrette is the next step towards attaining the Vision. It is a process through which the Vision, described by words, can evolve into images, expressed in drawings and plans; it can show how the Vision might physically work on the site. The plans and drawings developed in the Design Charrette may be used to create individual projects, such as a community garden or tree planting campaign to benefit air quality and provide shade in a time of global warming.

The Design Charrette will be a 3 day event. A design team will be formed which will include architects and other design professionals. They will visit the site and familiarize themselves with the Vision. An information session will be held for members of the community to voice their concerns and dreams. City Staff and the Agricultural Fair board have been invited to present information regarding policies, possibilities and needs regarding the site. Over the weekend the design team will discuss ideas and draw up versions of how those ideas might work on the site. These ideas and drawings would be presented to the public.

It is our hope that once decisions have been made by the city regarding arenas and ancillary uses, that there could be a process similar to the one adopted for McBurney Park, in which Parks, Culture and Recreation, the Agricultural Society, other user groups, local residents and our association could collaborate in creating a master plan for the site and scheduling changes for the future. The Charrette might help with the development of such a Master Plan.




A SYNOPSIS OF OUR VISION STATEMENT

Our vision is to return the Memorial Centre to its original purpose: a true Community Health and Recreation Centre and Living Memorial. We wish to maximize the potential to create a dynamic, thriving, focal point for the health and enhancement of our community, a nerve-centre for people-friendly, human-scale recreation and relaxation in a beautiful park setting.

Green space is an important component of our vision. The Memorial Centre site provides a variety of recreational facilities for the benefit of all residents of Kingston but it is also a neighbourhood and community park. In fact, it offers the only significant park space in the residential area bounded by Concession, Division and Princess Streets. It is in the heart of the densest part of the city, an area with little park space and no waterfront. It is therefore critical that any development of the Memorial Centre site includes significant park space for passive leisure recreation as well as facilities for active recreation.

Highlights of our vision include:

The Memorial Centre and its site would be made more visually inviting and physically accessible to people of all incomes, ages and abilities.
Thoughtful and balanced design would blend parkland, playing fields and buildings. Mature treed areas and changes in elevation would help shield the park from traffic noise and road dust, promoting a natural sanctuary for those who like to amble along nature trails or jog and ski along an integrated track. A rolling hill could create a natural amphitheatre and provide for tobogganing in the winter.
A mixture of gardens including limestone rock gardens and community vegetable gardens would promote a rich diversity of wildlife and provide beautiful, healthy nature trails that would also be educational.
Outdoor structures throughout the site would allow for spontaneous play. Shaded seating and barbeque areas would encourage picnics and other social gatherings.
We see the agricultural fair continuing in its 175 year tradition of giving urban children an opportunity to learn about natural processes, drawing in thousands of people each year and highlighting the end of the summer season.
The sports fields would be redeveloped as necessary to reflect Kingston’s current needs and could be enhanced with an outdoor skating rink.
The pool would be improved with shaded areas for parents and children.
The arena could be expanded to offer more opportunities for sports and recreation. We would prefer a maximum of 2 indoor rinks in order that the buildings and parking do not overwhelm the residential neighbourhood or interfere with informal activities and the needs of the Agricultural Fair.
The configuration and scale of expanded buildings must be sensitive to the residential landscape surrounding them and have as small a footprint as possible in order to maintain the maximum amount of outdoor recreational space as a priority.
Inspired design would make use of natural materials and be an example for environmentally sustainable architecture.
Community centre activities could include seniors and youth drop-in centres, parent-child services, a daycare and a café/coffee shop to mention a few ideas.
Construction could be scheduled to allow for some immediate use and some that is phased in.
With this renewal, we envision the Memorial Centre becoming an even greater hubbub of activity than it is now and an attractive destination space for all Kingstonians. The Memorial Centre Project would be unique in its concept and commitment to community involvement in health, the environment, education, recreation, sports and entertainment.
We would like to point out that a huge proportion of these activities already exist on the site and it is only a matter of enhancing what we already have.

To accomplish the vision, we see numerous ways of getting the community involved. Different aspects of the Vision could be seen as smaller projects to be phased in when resources are available.

We see a community fundraising campaign which would build on the tradition of community contribution that led to the creation of the existing Memorial Centre Arena. Citizens can also share in the responsibility by volunteering time and services and our youth could participate through high school trade training or mentorship.

We recognize that our Vision needs to be flexible in order to be achievable, and we know it will evolve and develop over time. We would like to work towards accomplishing those aspects of the Vision that find resonance with other users groups, in co-operation with City Parks and Recreation and other City Departments.

[Lydia]

This is the kind of interaction that this city needs. This is the stuff i want happening on all our major issues.

If the city did this more often, This city would be dynamic place.

Thanks for putting this information on here.

[Lydia]

Dear Swimming Supporter,

For the past 9 months I have campaigned as your Pool User Advisor on a Community Advisory Group (CAG) for the City of Kingston’s proposed Multiplex Community Centre Project (MCCP) (by now I hope you have come to realize that this is not the LVEC). The continuation of my efforts and our mutual interest in a new pool facility may be short-lived, however.

During the four month hiatus since the CAG’s last meeting July 6th I took some time to research the supporting documents once more, to determine how the Multiplex Steering Committee brought us to where we are today. I’ve reviewed the Arena Capacity and Expansion Study (ACES) prepared by the Consulting firm dmA, as well as some of the Consultant’s other supporting documentation (notably their 2002 report entitled; Ontario Municipal Recreation Facilities Inventory Study). I came to the realisation that with 7 ice rinks, the City is adequately serviced compared to other Ontario communities. The ACES recommendations are purposed to replace the City’s poor infrastructure and dated facilities, not on meeting a current deficiency in ice user service levels. Depending on the rate of population growth, the City can meet ice user service levels for well over a decade with the current number of 7 arenas.

As you know, the Advisory Group recommended the new Community Centre include 4 ice pads and a 50m aquatic facility (all’s fair to ask for what you want). Through the process of identifying pool user needs and the deficient level of pool service that the Kingston Community experiences, the MCCP Steering Committee (SC) comprised of Kevin George (Chair), George Stoparczyk, Sara Meers, Floyd Patterson and Leonore Foster have come to recognise the need for a new Aquatic Centre in the City but have continued to defer making a decision about including a 50m pool in the Multiplex proposal. Thinking that pools and ice can’t be designed in the same building, they were waiting to see if firms bidding on the Request for Proposal would pronounce the cost of a 50m pool as prohibitive and too technically challenging. However, the five architectural firms bidding on the project were silent on the cost issue, with all apparently stating that a pool facility could be built if the City wished to include such in the Centre’s design.

It is likely that within the next few weeks, the Steering Committee will make a final decision regarding the pool. I have requested the opportunity to speak to the Committee at the next meeting to point out that if they cannot accept the CAG’s recommendation of 4 pads and a pool, they need to default to the recommendations of the Arena Capacity and Expansion Study. When one accepts that the proposed LVEC falls under the scope of that Study (ie. replacing the Memorial Centre), there is no justification for proceeding with a 4 pad centre (2 would suffice as long as they are prepared to close another 2 existing arenas). While the LVEC will service a unique and broader community need, the LVEC business plan identifies revenues coming from recreational ice rentals equal to and greater than revenues of any other existing community recreational arena. Thus the LVEC is effectively part of the overall ACES report strategy. It remains unclear if the twinning of the Center 70 Arena is still a consideration by the City.

Your support is need in the following fashion.
1. Contact your City Councillor and the Steering Committee members1 and state that you are not in support of the City pursuing 5 new ice pads in the City (the LVEC, plus 4 in the Multiplex). Ask the Steering Committee to fulfill the recommendations of the Arena Capacity and Expansion Study by; a) improve the quality but maintain the current level of service to ice users -- no additional ice pads are needed in the immediate to short term and b) in the short to medium term (by 2015) provide for an additional ice pad. While there is presently no deficiency in terms of ice arenas within the City, the City will be under-serviced by more than three 25 m pools in just two decades based on a previous report prepared by the same Consultant. Ask Councillors to address this gross deficiency by including an Aquatic Centre in the new Community Centre.

2. On November 14 wear the provided stick-on label ‘SWIM for LIFE’ and attend a very important meeting. On Monday, the 14th there will be a joint meeting of the CAG and SC to discuss which firm the City should select to proceed with the project. Your attendance is important and I am personally asking you to attend and support the cause! I have requested delegation status to make a presentation. I will present information that proceeding with 4 ice pads is not in keeping with the Arena Capacity and Expansion Study which Council has accepted as their guiding document. The meeting will take place at Rideaucrest Home in Conference Rooms A & B (lower level) from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm (sorry but they pick the hours).

The total number of new ice pads has been over stated and will be in excess of the Arena Capacity and Expansion Study Report if both the LVEC and 4 pad MCC proceed.

There is absolutely no reason why an Aquatic Centre can’t be included in the new Community Center. It’s just a matter of convincing Committee members to re-assess their priorities and recognise that they can meet the objective of a new aquatic centre within the scope of the proposed Multiplex Community Centre while still meeting their primary objective of fulfilling the recommendations of the Arena Capacity and Expansion Study.

Your attendance at this meeting will translate into support within the community, not just for the competitive swimmers of today, but for the youth and elderly of tomorrow who have even much more to gain. It’s about swimming and learning how to swim, not just competitive swimming, not which team you belong to. It’s about promoting health, a life skill and a sport … not a game.

Let’s SWIM for LIFE!

I hope to see you there.Alex P. PalilionisMultiplex Community CentrePool User Advisor 1 Please contact: KGeorge@cityofkingston.ca fpatterson@cityofkingston.ca LFoster@cityofkingston.ca GStoparczyk@cityofkingston.ca smeers@cityofkingston.ca

[Toranto123]

Hello,

I am new to the forum, feel great to know how dedicatedly you are doing great work. I like the way you are keeping open things for every one to contribute.

[Lydia]

Welcome to this blog, Toronto123.

This blog started with our founder Nancy Foster and now has quite a number of followers. If you look at our membership list, you will see that many people do indeed follow our topics. Some just follow it others contribute to it. Please feel free to contribute any issues that you choose to bring up.

This blog has people from other countries also following issues that kingston Electors chat about.

Again Welcome and hope your experience on here is a great one.

I am a person who will challenge people in order to get their real thoughts on subject. They get angry with me and that is what I want as well. That makes them less worried about insulting me and more interested in expressing their real thoughts and concerns.