After plans for a proposed $9.6 face-lift for Chatham’s downtown core were presented to council, a pair of Chatham-Kent councillors want similar plans in Dresden and Wallaceburg.
Details about the Downtown Chatham Streetscape Design Plan were presented to council at Monday’s combined planning and regular meeting.
Ryan Jacques, a municipal planner, provided an overview about the project, which would be constructed in various stages, including: new sidewalks, curbs and gateway areas, a new parkette, a plaza, new garbage bins, benches and lightning for downtown Chatham.
“Infrastructure improvements in downtown Chatham have been ongoing over the years,” Jacques said in his report. “The majority of these improvements have been subsurface.
Jacques added aesthetic improvements have been postponed annually due to these subsurface improvements and due to the lack of “a collective vision for this neighbourhood.
This lack of collective view for such aesthetic features such as sidewalks has created some frustration for stakeholders within the project area,” Jacques said in his report.
North Kent Coun. Joe Faas said this vision is something he’d like to see for downtown Dresden.
“Dresden has had some improvements done in the last couple of years, with the new sidewalks downtown and the new street lights,” he said. “But I think a plan wouldn’t hurt in a similar manner, so we strive to do a complete renovation of the downtown like what is proposed in Chatham.”
Faas added he still believes the concept for Chatham is good.
“It is basically a plan to revitalize the downtown and it will be done in stages, once the budget allows,” Faas said. “It’s good to have a focus on what needs to be done before they start doing repairs to the downtown, without any plan to come up with something that is suitable. Sometimes you just piecemeal things together, now when they go to make those renovations they can focus on the plan to make sure it is consistent throughout the whole downtown.”
Wallaceburg Coun. Jeff Wesley said a similar process should be done for all downtown cores across Chatham-Kent.
“One of the things they do is get all of the stakeholders together and mold all of the different ideas together,” he said.
Wesley said this project for Chatham is not a done deal.
“Right now it is a long term high ticket price concept and nothing is agreed to until we all go through the budget process in 2015-1016,” he said.
Wesley said Wallaceburg will have a “re-development of sorts” in 2015 with the Stonehouse Bridge repair, local site improvements and the efforts of the BIA to add to the bridge work in various areas downtown.
Wesley added his fingers are crossed as the BIA have applied for a Community Partnership Grant to help cover the cost for some of their ideas.
