This afternoons on-site tour of the riverfront by the Riverfront Development Committee and led by the Citys urban planner extraordinaire, Sebastian Arcand, was amazing (it didnt hurt that it was a gorgeous day). The Riverfront Committee has met many times to discuss our river, but somehow, walking the riverbank put so many things into perspective. We began at City Hall and walked down Downing Street (dodging cars in the parking lot since there is no sidewalk or any real way to know where to walk). Not a pleasant experience getting to our river...simply cant wait to get the Downing Street project going. However, once we reached the river, I have to say it was wonderful, thinking about what our river could be. It has obviously undergone enormous changes in the last 50 years, so dreaming of what if could look like in the next 50 was fun. We continued down what would be Downing (the path on the south side of Assumption Blvd.) admiring the beautiful flowers and thinking about the proposed bandstand that might eventually be placed on the waters edge as part of the 2nd (or 3rd) phase of the Downing Street renovation. There is lots of green space here that is lovely, but isnt really being used very well at the moment. (I keep saying that we need a really cool splash park here...or even something like the play boat that is along the boardwalk in Halifax...there really isnt any place along the riverfront for young families.) We then turned east on the trail and Im so happy to report that it was packed at noontime with MANY runners, walkers and cyclists. Unfortunately, once again we had to walk through a parking lot (this time the one behind Rogers). The City has an informal agreement with Rogers that allows the trail to continue through their parking lot and in turn allows them to use City land for another row of parking. The long-range plan is to possibly have a boardwalk along here, over the edge of the river. As we stood behind the Rogers building and considered the empty autoparts building, we contemplated things that could go in this space (the auto parts dealer would not be a compliant use today). Unfortunately though, there are currently no restrictions regarding the height of a building here nor are there (at this time) any conditions regarding windows onto the river. We continued along, noting the lovely condominiums (what a difference excellent landscaping can make to the enjoyment of the trail!). More parking lots (again, I am just so hopeful for the day when DT property is worth too much to be just used as a surface parking lot...). We went up to Bore Park (such a lovely park, but in my 18 years in Moncton, I have yet to attend one single event in the park at street level). Can anyone remember attending events at Bore Park? (We were all thinking that the amphitheatre part would be a natural place for a buskers festival!) It is also very interesting to see the Saxby Gale height and how that (and the new 10.5m restrictions) might influence development in this area. As we passed behind the Running Room, I think we were all thinking about how our river has been neglected for so long ... obviously when these buildings were built there was no consideration of a river view. We had a quick tour of the Visitor Information Centre (million dollar view, Im telling you!) and then continued along to Chateau Moncton for our lunch on their beautiful deck. We returned up Westmoreland by the court house and yet again, realized so vividly, that we have done nothing to connect our DT to the river. I guess the biggest learning for me today was that while we obviously need to think about access issues to our river, perhaps we also need to think about how we might take better advantage of our beautiful river without actually entering it. Think about the throngs of people who gather every day in the summer along the Seine in Paris (and they certainly dont consider dipping their toes in there!). I also don’t want to lose track of wintertime uses of our riverfront either. Would love to hear your thoughts. #inPoli
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 20:37:28 +0000
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