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City taking next step in Waterfront redevelopment

City Council approve undertaking an environmental assessment of multi-use pier
King's Landing
Reconstructing the existing King's Landing structure has been conservatively pitched as the least expensive option at $2.8 million. Photo by Jeff Turl

It's inevitable: the city's prized Waterfront is due for some major changes. 

But while the overhaul is still a long way away, the city moved one small step closer to being shovel-ready after City Council approved a contract for an Environmental Assessment (EA) on the Waterfront pier Monday night. 

See related stories: Waterfront dock may be removed

and: Multi use pier at waterfront gets cash for study

All but two of the politicians voted in favour of the $213,107 contract to D.M. Wills Associates Limited for phase one of environmental and engineering services for the waterfront multi-use pier and naturalized wave break.  

The 380-metre King's Landing dock, originally built in 1947, is quickly reaching the end of its useful life and requires a big investment.  

What exactly that investment will be for though, whether simply repairing the existing structure or reconstructing it entirely, remains to be seen. 

The completion of the study is required by the Canadian Environmental Act and will include technical, economic and social background work.

The environmental background work will investigate the technical side with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. 

Meanwhile, the social and economic impact will be gauged based on public input to identify what should be included in the final project design. 

Together, those findings will help guide council's decision for the future look of the Waterfront area. 

“The intent of the EA is to explore what technical factors we would have to deal with and what permitting and approvals we would require,” said John Severino, the managing director of Community Services. “It would do all the studies to tell us what it is that we could potentially do at the waterfront, including the current state." 

The city will also be utilizing some of the $675,000 in project funding they received from FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), bringing their actual cost of the assessment down to $65,000. 

The two dissenting votes came from councillors Mark King and Mike Anthony. 

Anthony took issue with the syntax of the motion, suggesting that the wording regarding the wave break implies the existing dock will become a stand-alone wave break and an entirely new dock will have to be commissioned. 

“My preferred option is to simply repair the dock and, for me, this motion, just the wording where it talks about a naturalized wave break, goes a little bit too far away from that direction for me,” he explained. 

King, the chair of Community Services, was also worried about committing to moving the dock too early. 

“The request for proposal suggests that we move forward with a waterfront multi-use pier and wave break,” King said bluntly. “By moving in that direction, we’ve automatically removed the ability of the Chief Commanda to dock in that facility which means we now have to rebuild a gas dock area. 

“The bottom line here is once we move to remove that dock and place a spit in that water, we are committed to paying the costs to move the Chief Commanda," he added. "I’m deeply disappointed with the way the report was written to council." 

But both were reassured that the assessment does not commit them to a waterfront redevelopment and every decision moving forward would have to be approved by the group first. 

The engineering design and phase two of the process will depend on the results of the environmental assessment, which Severino said could go before council in a year-to-18 months from now. 

Last August, divers did a city-funded inspection of the dock to assess its current condition. Since then, the city has implemented load restrictions and undergone minor remedial work to maintain traffic and access. 

“We’re taking some steps to maintain the safety of vehicles that are using the dock so we can retain our weight load above the restrictions we’ve established,” Severino explained. 

Severino said reconstructing the existing structure up to the restricted area has been conservatively pitched as the least expensive option at $2.8 million. 

Completing the assessment also positions the city more advantageously to apply for funding from other levels of government as the process progresses too. 

By the time phase three rolls around, the least expensive option for the city could be an entirely new waterfront redevelopment if the provincial and federal funding comes through. 

In 2014, city staff presented the Waterfront Tourist Commercial Attraction Feasibility Study, which identified the need to develop a link between the downtown and the waterfront as well as increasing tourist and local traffic at the waterfront. 

Based on those findings, council directed city staff to undertake the necessary studies to achieve the construction of a new dock for the Chief Commanda II to a more central and easily accessible location.

That option would see the cruise ship dock at a new structure at the stern of the Chief Commanda I restaurant, with discontinued access to the existing wharf and boathouses.

The original feasibility study included other recommendations that could include a relocated boat launch, an expanded boardwalk, a water-feature that could be used as a skating rink in the winter, additional picnic shelters, and even a wakeboard cable park.

The results of phase one are also expected to garner more detailed alternative concepts, which are then anticipated to be worked into the Downtown Waterfront Land Use and Urban Design Plan.  


Liam Berti

About the Author: Liam Berti

Liam Berti is a University of Ottawa journalism graduate who has since worked for BayToday as the City Council and North Bay Battalion reporter.
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