By Pepper Parr
October 1, 2016
BURLINGTON. ON
We told you about the changes being made at the eastern end of Spencer Smith Park that included the destruction of the existing gazebo and the creation of a walking path.
The drawing set out below wasn’t available to us at the time – with that drawing we can give you a bigger picture of the change that is being made.
The Naval Memorial will be at the left side with a new gazebo that will be a bit bigger and accessible in the centre. The stairway from Lakeshore Road will be right behind the gazebo. The land on the right hand side was a bit of a bowl that collected too much water – that will be leveled out
It’s quite comprehensive and all things being equal it will leave us all with a more functional park that will pull the pier, that neat little mini beach tucked in at the base of the pier and the Naval monument plus the new gazebo into one grouping.
Fine work on the part of city landscape planner Ingrid Vanderbrug and those she worked with.
We won’t get to see the finished look until the spring but it should work well.
What isn’t clear is how this upgrade to the east end of the park will fit into the plans being talked through for increased development on the land the Waterfront Hotel currently sit on.
If there is ever a new Waterfront Hotel built you can bet it will have a more attractive design on the street side – and that it will reach a lot higher into the sky.
There were discussions about tearing down the existing hotel and putting up something in the 30 storey range and adding one and perhaps two structures to the south of the hotel on land that Conservation Halton has a lot of control over.
The last we heard was that the thinking was to orient new development on that land so that it looked west along the Naval Promenade.
Should such a development take place the upgrade to the park and the setting for the new gazebo becomes almost an extension of any hotel development.
A view of the east end of Spencer smith Park looking west – before the gazebo was torn down and the willow trees removed. This is the view that guests in a new Waterfront Hotel would have – if that development ever takes place.
What a break for the developer.
And what a much different downtown Burlington.
I agree with the comments, in addition any public land in the area should not be built on, it is a park, if you build on it it will be lost. In all of this there is no mention of the $500,000 for public toilets at the West end of the park.
I totally agree with you Stephen. We need to take our city back!
Not just the Mayor needs to be voted out.
I just returned from attending an event at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre last night I hadn’t been to that part of Mississauga in about two years. I didn’t recognize it. High rises everywhere. Traffic and parking was a nightmare.
I’m continually amazed at how downtown Burlington resembles downtown Toronto or Mississauga. High rises everywhere, older buildings razed, and the small-town character and feel of the area destroyed. While I’ll concede the the Waterfront Hotel is not a masterpiece of engineering or architectural design it at least is in keeping with the surrounding area. A 30-storey hotel will dwarf neighbouring buildings and obliterate the character of downtown Burlington.
Of course, it probably is in keeping with the mandate of our Mayor who seems intent on destroying the character of downtown Burlington and hasn’t yet met a developer he can’t say “no” to.
Why is it that Oakville’s downtown looks absolutely amazing and manages to maintain charm, character and class, and ours increasingly looks like a concrete jungle?