Bradford West Gwillimbury residents and business owners can help shape the future of Holland St. at a public information centre being held virtually Feb. 17.
Two sessions on the reconstruction of Holland St. E and Holland St. W. will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Participants looking to register to attend either session can click here.
These meetings are part of the overarching environmental assessment being undertaken for the reconstruction, a descriptor Coun. Jonathan Scott feels could be more accurate.
“I’m going to start to call it our Holland St. transformation, not reconstruction,” he said at the Feb. 2 Downtown Revitalization Committee meeting. “We’re really not reconstructing; we’re trying to transform.”
The environmental assessment currently being completed for the project covers Holland St. E. and Holland St. W., stretching from just past Dissette Street in the east to just past Professor Day Drive in the west. As well, pieces of more north-south side streets in that corridor are considered in scope.
Always contentious when discussing any changes to Bradford’s downtown is the ability of traffic to flow through. As Peter Loukes, director of development and engineering services pointed out, there’s about a 20-metre fixed gap between the buildings through the core.
What the consultants working on this project will be doing, based on the feedback they hear from stakeholders, is to determine just what the best use of that space will be.
“What’s the right balance?” Loukes asked. “It’s a balance of private space vs. public space; patios… how much parking (that’s) the kind of feedback we’re trying to get in the public sessions, amongst other things.”
Town staff are hoping for support for the ideas being developed already and put forward. In breakout rooms, participants will be able to show their support and rank ideas as presented.
Getting the right people at the meetings was important for Coun. Peter Dykie.
“The real stakeholders: the bars, the restaurants, the building owners – not just the tenants – let them really know what’s going on,” he said. “They’re busy running their businesses and they don’t always have time to get involved.”
Earlier in the meeting, the committee welcomed Mary Rowe, president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. Her presentation resonated with staff and committee members in their discussion about the Holland Street project.
She reminded committee members that the problems many communities face today were not created by the COVID-19 pandemic, but rather have been exacerbated by them. And with more people not needing to return to larger cities for their careers, Bradford West Gwillimbury is in a strong spot.
“There is really the opportunity for you to do some imaginative things,” she said, suggesting towns should be looking at what they introduced during the pandemic as supports for their downtowns and keep what worked.
It depends on what kind of future development is welcomed downtown. The threat of opening any main street up for development – potentially at the expense of existing and heritage buildings – is that many local businesses may be cast aside for national chains. The town is the one making the call.
“You could make some really bold decisions and do some interesting differentiating investments that would start to pull you away from the pack,” Rowe said. “(It) would provide a unique identity.”
Coun. Mark Contois indicated he didn’t want to dismiss any opportunity for the downtown and wanted the committee to “think outside the box,” as Rowe had suggested. That could include closing a portion of the downtown core off to traffic, making a walkable district.
Rowe gave examples for recent transformations in London and Guelph that turned their downtown into more of a “people place,” which is the concept many in Bradford West Gwillimbury ultimately envision for Holland Street.
“It comes back to whether you want to do it permanently or whether you want to have the flexibility to do this,” Loukes said.
Those unable to attend either of the public information centres on Feb. 17 will be able to review the materials and the meeting recording afterward.
The second set of information centres are scheduled for April.
