Town Square Planned

By Veronica Rhodes

Photo: Bryan Schlosser/Leader-Post

The first project in Regina's downtown renewal process will transform the heart of the city into a town square.

At his State of the City address on Thursday, Mayor Pat Fiacco announced a $l-million capital investment in Phase 1 of the WOW project.

Created by OfficeforUrbanism, the Toronto based consulting firm hired to bring forward the new vision for Regina's downtown, the project calls for two blocks of 12th Avenue to be transformed, creating an area for festivals and activities adjacent to Victoria Park.

"There are groups and organizations, such as the Regina Folk Festival, that already make excellent usage of the park and at the same time, there are all types of groups, particularly arts groups, that want to be engaged in the downtown and be active in the downtown but there isn't a good space," explained Jennifer Keesmaat, OfficeforUrbanism's project lead.

"The WOW project is about taking 12th Avenue between Lome and Scarth Street and turning it into an urban square, turning it into a dynamic urban space that is beautiful and also can be programmed on a regular basis to be a great meeting place."

Keesmaat explained the naming of the WOW project came about as a way to capture the energy that the whole downtown plan is meant to articulate. The width of the street and both sidewalks from the park edge to the buildings on the north side of 12th Avenue will be enhanced as part of the project.

"The square is going to be a hard surface where from the edge of the park to the (front of the) building(s) on the north side of the street, there is a continuous paving treatment signaling this is a very special and distinct place in the city. It's going to be where a lot of pedestrians, a lot of people can gather without impacting in a negative way the infrastructure," Keesmaat told reporters.

Following Thursday's funding announcement, city staff will be retaining a local landscape architect to create the working drawings for the project, said Keesmaat. Ultimately, she would like to see the bus traffic that stops beside the park on 12th Avenue moved to a different location because it creates a barrier between the downtown and the square.

However, Fiacco said the removal of buses and other traffic changes will be considered in the future because the plans for the project are preliminary at this point. The project idea was identified during a public forum that was held in December.

"Nothing has been finalized, we'll wait for the full plan to come forward. The good news is we'll be expanding the opportunities for festivals and gatherings in the downtown area, which is what people have told us they want," he said.

Fiacco anticipated that once the designs were finalized, work on 12th Avenue could start this summer.

The second in the series of planned forums is to be held in April to develop action plans for implementing the downtown plan and gather public feedback. The third forum, planned for June, will present the draft plan for input from the public.

The finalized downtown plan is expected to be presented to city council this summer.

© Copyright 2008 The Leader-Post. Used with permission.