Dear Sir,
.
Any condo or commercial building on the parking lot east of Civic Complex/Aquatic Centre would ruin the view from the former Si Miller arena property, and lessen it’s market value. The City is trying to sell this site today.
.
The arena site rises up as it rolls northward to First St. E. In the middle of the site, the view to the south is striking.
.
It looks directly onto the parking lot in question with the river and treed Cornwall Island in the background. In the foreground, the beige curling club is almost hidden by trees, and big trees stand in front of the Civic Complex. To the east, lots of Legion Park green space is visible behind the French monument. The slanted glass walls of the Aquatic Centre just sparkle in the sunshine, and a large bed of bright yellow flowers enhances the United Way thermometer.
.
Imagine the southern view from a spiffy 10-12 storey condo on the arena site! Residents on the east and west sides of this tower would have green space and river views too.
.
The city’s pro-development waterfront committee is preparing for June public meetings regarding their plan, which is the second nutty thing they have done in two years. At their first meeting, they halted a $30,000 redesign of the most easterly portion of Lamoureux Park located just east of the marina.
.
The redesign to make the park’s fabulous river views more accessible by car has been in the planning for years. To this end, five mature trees from a downtown construction site were relocated here at city expense. Our old committee called this park Lookout Point or Pointe
.
Maligne Lookout and felt it could become a tourist attraction with terrific views even on winter days. (Pointe Maligne was the name for the Cornwall region from 1600 to 1825 and it appeared on river charts and tickets issued by Montreal shipping firms.) Win or lose their parking lot project, you can be sure the current waterfront committee members who never saw a blade of grass they liked will want to chop those five trees down and build private condos at Lookout Point!
.
Gerry Flaherty – Cornwall
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
Yeah, well kiss the waterfront goodbye.
The waterfront parklands have effectively been cut off from mainstream foot traffic from the downtown, by the Cornwall Square which turns it arse onto the river.
And now the new low level bridge effectively severs the waterfront and will turn Water Street into a major vehicle artery that further slices the downtown from the river front.
And of course a little brick and mortar for a condominium on the marina (subsidized by Cornwall taxpayers) and some more paving around the complex and curling rink ( because these sports fanatics can’t walk the length of their shadows) and before you know it… greenspace gone.
Ignorance, poverty, apathy, greed… Cornwall, you’re awesome.
Good points Gerry. We’ll shut them down in June. Simon needs a hug.
What I find truly amazing , is where our elected officials are on this ridiculous issue. Not a word from any of them except for Andre ? Are they going (we) to lose a possible sale of the old Si Miller site, because the Waterfront Committee wants to build condos in the Complex parking lot ? If this project gets the go-ahead, the Si Miller site will remain as is for many years. Because without a river view, the value of that site diminishes greatly, if a developer wants to build on it .
A century ago land parcels were rectangular from rivers and water sources for farming. Today, lands can create wonderful usable open spaces and playgrounds for all taxpayers and visiitors to enjoy. Brockville has a mix of residential highrises around the loop at the railroad tunnel and I think it has taken from the area.
Could something be set up to encourage Divers, boat cruises or another spot for theater besides the current band shell? People should offer solutions instead of just saying no.
I have said it over and over again that André Rivette is the only person on that council who represents the people and the rest are nothing but “doggie doo doo” and you sure don’t need 10 councellors – they are all there to rip off the taxpayers and it is about time that the people of Cornwall go and splash water on their faces and wake up from LA LA land. Condos are ugly especially high rises. You want to shade and block the views and destroy the park then go ahead and build those ugly things. You want views and healthy living don’t go through with that. Your taxes are going to skyrocket and that is not an exaggeration. If you find the taxes too high now just go ahead and see what will happen. You haven’t seen anything yet. It is “fasicm” type of a council that is going on and only André is the good one there. The rest are there to steal from all of you. Wake up.
Just a note to compliment Simon on an amazing line…
“ignorance, poverty, apathy, greed…Cornwall you’re awesome.”
‘Is there any other part of Canada that is segregated at a border crossing from its own country? Of course the reference is to that of Akwesasne and Cornwall. The toll acts as an unnatural form of divisiveness, antagonistic frustration and a sense of yet another form of control of our beautiful Island peoples. Are we sectioning them off because of the high incidences of smuggling, black listing the entire population? Would we do this if it was on say Hamilton Island or if they were white rather than having declared themselves as a nation within a nation? These discriminatory tactics cause more angst than any other in my view. We all know they have a get out of jail free card yet it still rubs their craw, as it would anyone of us. The north bridge site for a toll is a slap in the face to our Mohawk neighbors and is an unfair place to set the toll. Now is the time to make the right decision. If we are to have it at all, it must be placed at the south end even if it is an inconvenience to manage it by having the employees traverse that short extra distance to get to their post. I would not want to be held up with extra traffic every time I went to Cornwall for a few groceries. These are Canadians for heavens sake, whether they identify with us is immaterial. How would you feel if you were in their shoes?
A solution is plausible. By locating the CBSA on the South end of the South bridge next to or as a shared part of the USA Customs, by creating that portion of USA soil as a Canadian Embassy in order
have the right to bare arms, also place the toll booth at the North side of the South bridge as an extension of the new Canadian Embassy…NOT to allow firearms at that point other than standard policing issue for police only who regularly patrol the entire crossing but to provide the Toll Booth with a posted police presence as scrutineers of all activities at that juncture. These police of course could be RCMP and/ or an Akwasasne patrol. This would also satisfy Cornwall’s waterfront committee aspirations to maintains consistency with the beautification of our waterfront. Failing that then totally eliminate the necessity of a toll at all.
Dave Windsor
Cornwall
613-938-2550
People using the Aquatic Centre are fortunate to have a great view of our beautiful waterfront. However, that may all change if the plans of the current waterfront committee come about. The lovely glass panels which create these views will have been for nought if a multi-storey building is erected east of the centre on the parking lot. The plans of the pro-development waterfront committee are destructive instead of being constructive. Ratepayers need to grasp the reality of what might happen, and turn out at the Civic Centre public meetings on June 12 to return some sanity to this waterfront committee.
The majority of people that buy the condos are older people from other parts of ontario and quebec . Will these people who lived and worked elsewhere go back when they need a doctor and nursing home or will we have to step aside ? How are we going to accodate these people. We already have a big problem. Like i said nice gifts for a select few .I guess thats why they want the east end cleaned up.Going to be a major issue in the future or already is, not sure.
Gentrification is going to come to Cornwall as it does to most cities that have attractive property.
What a ridiculous situation that this waterfront commitee has wandered into. So, let’s look at another illogicol idea, perhaps the waterfront commitee move the Civic complex/ aquatic centre to the new sports centre,utilize the former building for the addition to the new condos buildings so that they can now build more condo’s on the former park (Lamoureux) which the name would be change to CONDO PARK.
Just imagine, The viewof the south side of the condo’s, would see the river and cornwall island and on the north side, rear end of the mall, my, my, my, WHAT A VIEW…NOT!
Ridiculous – I GUESS. But, that’s exactly what is being asked for.
Look outside of the box, people. If you allow one condo building to be built in that zone, then you have allowed the rest of the land to be built the same.
The Lamoureux park and surrounding areas should remain for public use only. That’s what a portion of your taxes are being used for.
The beautiful park is a gem. it belongs to the whole of the community.. keep it green. there are other spots to build on . Like Mr Parisien mentionned placing a building on the one small strip of land effectively cuts off any purpose or view of the river for a plaza of buildings on the north side of water street where the once great SI Miller stood..Also speaking with other concerned residents the natural light coming in to the Aqualtic centre from 3 beautiful surrounding windows will be blocked out! It is no place for a building.. keep the horizon the way it is please.. I want generations to enjoy this serene beautiful gem of a park that is quiet due in part to the thoughtful design of a slightly higher ridge between the busy traffic road and the green space.. There are dozens of other places to build along the waterway…