Road Ahead: Aurora council to continue conversation on cultural precinct vision

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 31, 2015
By Teresa Latchford

Aurora residents can expect council to delve further into details surrounding the cultural precinct early in the New Year.

Councillors got a glimpse of the design concept for the town’s cultural precinct that stretches from Yonge to Larmont streets, from Mosley to Church and Metcalfe streets this month as FOTENN consultants Michael Stott and Sarah Millar presented their final plan.

“A lot of what we have been hearing is that if you want to make this the heart of Aurora, one, you need activity, two, you need places to eat and, three, you need people living here,” Millar said. “It’s about bringing all of these things in this precinct.”

The precinct was split into three blocks to make it easier to discuss.

Block 1: The first block, bordered by Yonge and Victoria streets, would be best developed with a mixed-use concept to create a variety of residential and commercial uses and encourage a live-work environment, Millar said.

“We took it out to the public and they said they would like to see redevelopment here,” she said. “They said they like brick facades and the idea of a mixed-use development.”

At the corner of Yonge and Mosley, the existing commercial building is the first development opportunity, she said. The second opportunity would be the extension of Victoria Hall into the municipal parking area, featuring smaller business spaces on the ground level and studio apartments above.

Images of a pedestrian walkway that carries all the way from Yonge right through to Town Park and green roof concepts flashed across the screen in council chambers. It is also suggested the current parking between the Aurora Public Library and Aurora Cultural Centre be transformed into a two or three-storey parking garage wrapped in an interesting facade.

The former library is the ideal spot for the creation of new community space and could include a bridge to the cultural centre.

Block 2: Trinity Church site presents an opportunity to reorganize surface parking to accommodate a pedestrian walkway between that and the former Wells Street School and maintain architectural features such as peaked roofs.

Fronting onto Wells Street is a residential property that would lend itself to long-term development suited for a senior residence or low-income housing.

Block 3: To maximize programming space, the proposal includes a relocation of the band shell and removal of the baseball field to make way for a great lawn.

“The idea behind the great lawn is to encourage everyone to have a space to sit down, have a picnic or play Frisbee without being tied to a structured recreational space,” she added.

The armoury should be opened up to the park. Rather than just a front door, create an indoor-outdoor space fronting onto a feature that acts as a skating rink in the winter and a roller skating rink or splash pad in the summer. The armoury would be a place to rent skates, have a coffee and encourage people to sit and stay a while.

The central plaza would be the ideal place for the Farmers’ Market.

No decision was made at the meeting but council did accept the presentation and intends to discuss it further at a January meeting.

Next steps include hosting another consultation with the business community and beginning with the implementation phase with council approval in January.