Monday, June 02, 2003
Annette Phillips
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The Kingston Whig-Standard
After decades of talk and years of planning, the long-awaited rebuilding of one of Canada's oldest farmers' markets is about to clear its final planning hurdle.
The $4.2-million capital project to replace the parking lot behind City Hall with a skating rink, street furniture and landscaping more consistent with Kingston's heritage as the first capital of Canada comes up for planning committee approval June 19.
Citizens will get to see new architectural drawings of City Hall's backyard that depict market stalls, mini entertainment venues and spruced up landscaping. "We don't want cars coming here and parking," said Mark Segsworth, the city's commissioner of operations and the person who recently took over the initiative. Market Square is a heritage district. Our own Official Plan says we need to transition away from being a parking lot."
New underground infrastructure will supply electricity and water to what is said to be the country's oldest farmers' market. Parking spaces are taken over Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays behind City Hall by vendors who sell fruit, vegetables, flowers and crafts. The site is also home to a regular Sunday antique market.
Getting the Market Square project to the final approval stage is being hailed a "huge success" by Councillor Leonore Foster, who chairs one of the project subcommittees. A committee to revamp Market Square has been meeting, in one form or another, since 1976, but the project, which involves a number of groups and a lot of non-municipal cash, has never had a "champion" who was determined to bring it to completion, Foster said. She credits Segsworth with driving the project toward completion. The project was delayed two years ago by an Ontario Municipal Board hearing launched by business owners who objected to the special tax levy applied by the city to help pay for the project. The city and the Downtown Business Improvement Area defended the levy, saying that the municipality had the right to impose a special tax for improvement purposes.
A revamped Market Square would provide a venue to launch more concerts and outdoor activities and would benefit all businesses by attracting more people to the downtown core, the city and the business group told the municipal board. A group of business owners argued that they were too far away from Market Square to reap benefits and that the levy was too high, especially since businesses were still paying off a loan for sprucing up Princess Street years ago. The board allowed the levy, which would amount to less than $100 per year for most businesses. The board also found that downtown companies would receive a "special benefit" from increased pedestrian traffic due to the new market. The board ordered a financing scheme that saw the Princess Street loan paid off before the Market Square levy is applied. A site plan approval process was also ordered by the board to allow the public to comment.
George Wallace, acting manager of the planning division, said the June 19 meetings are to discuss aesthetics like landscaping. It is not an opportunity to revisit financing or tax levy arguments, he said.
The project will cost millions more than the tax levy and Kim Donovan, president of Kincore Holdings, has agreed to lead the fundraising component of the project. Early estimates peg the total cost at $4.2 million, of which $1.8 will be provided by the city and the downtown business levy. Kincore has already donated $100,000. That leaves more than $2 million to be raised from the community. A proper fundraising campaign can't begin until site plan approval is received, Donovan said.
Once approvals are received and a public tender puts a "reliable" cost estimate on the project, the fundraising committee will step in. "This is a lot of money to raise for Market Square, but I think it's important to maximize the value of what really is the city's core asset," Donovan said. Fundraisers will also be looking to federal and provincial grant agencies for money, Segsworth said. Donovan, a heritage developer with significant real-estate holdings in the downtown, said the project is about more than an aesthetically-pleasing city square. "It's having something we point to as a success that sets up the expectation that we will carry the quality and some of these materials and treatments through the downtown as we renew and reinvigorate the downtown," he said. "It's a touchstone for what we can see the city as being."
Donovan, Segsworth and Foster agree that the Market Square project must be viewed as part of a much bigger picture that includes a heritage-focused gathering place on the water with the ability to attract thousands of people to live, work and play in Kingston's downtown.
Ian Milne has an even bigger vision. Last September, at Milne's request, city council officially designated a seven-hectare swath of the downtown "First Capital Place" in honour of Kingston's one-time status as the first capital city of a united Canada. First Capital Place is officially the area bounded by the waterfront Murney Tower King, Brock and Clarence streets. First Capital Place is an important marketing tool, but it's also the first step in linking Canada's first and its current capital cities, Milne said. The First Capital project builds on the relationship between Kingston's military and citizenship, Milne said.
He envisions a passenger ferry running from the Murney Tower to the moat at Old Fort Henry, and uniformed guardsmen strolling the streets of First Capital Place. He and a small group of volunteers are hoping to soon announce their success in having Highway 15, the main link between Kingston and Ottawa, renamed Capital Way. Market Square is an important part of that concept and Milne is anxious to see the project finished. "We are very frustrated it's still a car park," he said. "It's the most attractive heritage area in Kingston."
Segsworth is hoping construction will start next year.
MARKET MEETING
What: Special public meeting on the Market Square redevelopment project
Where: Memorial Hall, Kingston City Hall on Ontario Street
When: Thursday, June 19. An open house will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. followed by a special meeting of the planning committee at 6:30 p.m.
Why: To hear public comments on the rebuilding of Market Square
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Market Square Renewal Poised for Approval: After Decades of Delays, $4.2M Project in Final Stages |
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