Not everybody had the same ideas and not everybody agreed on the direction, but there was no doubt that everyone participating in the public workshop to shape the waterfront and downtown areas cared about their city and wanted to see the best for it.
With a dozen groups working together to communicate their idea to the consulting firm, BrookMcIlroy, nearly 50 members of the community took the time to carefully outline where they thought the downtown/waterfront should go.
Jessica Hawes, project manager at BrookMcIlroy said a process like this was essential to determining the wants and needs of the community and to provide them with direction for their plan.
“It’s the most important part of this process,” she said. “For us, it needs to be a vision that’s created by the community, for the community so we’ll be having these sessions to test ideas and talk about the vision.”
Hawes said she and her team were excited to delve into the project, as they see immense potential in North Bay, touching on how much beautiful and accessible waterfront area was available.
Some of the major points brought up by the groups by the end of the workshop included:
- Creating more connections from the downtown to the waterfront, similar to the underpass near Discovery North Bay;
- Creating more and improving upon North Bay’s cycling infrastructure, by adding bike lanes and encouraging cycling as a safe method of transportation;
- Developing more housing, such as apartment building in the downtown area;
- Utilizing the empty spaces between Oak Street and Memorial Drive;
- And ensuring the waterfront had substantial facilities and activities to promote year-round use, instead of closing almost entirely for the winter.
Manager of Planning Services, Beverly Hillier said the public input was incredible and was glad to see an arrangement of ages and groups to give a wide variety of perspectives.
“It’s really phenomenal,” she said. “It really needs to be a vision the community believes in and has ownership in. There will be lots of future opportunity still to participate in this if you didn’t have the chance.”
Hillier said a lot of work had been done downtown and at the waterfront, but a 2014 study recommended the city look at both areas together instead of separately, which got the ball rolling to go that direction.
The workshop was the first of many consultations that BrookMcIlroy would hold within the community over the course of their project to create a comprehensive plan for the downtown and waterfront areas. Hawes said their goal was to complete the study by the end of the year and have a comprehensive vision, guideline and implementation plan for the city, looking at how to connect the downtown and the waterfront and the vision for the future active use.
More information about the Downtown Waterfront Master Plan can be found on the City’s website.
