You might have heard that the provincial government has put $20 million dollars into a program that will help BC communities build public plazas and parks. This is called the Spirit Squares program. Looks like we are eligible for up to $500 000, provided we put up the same amount in money, citizen time, or other resources. For every dollar the province approves, we have to put up a dollar. Council as a whole is steering our local planning - and its proving to be quite challenging. Questions that have arisen so far:
- How much city money can/should we allocate to our spirit square project?
- Should the spirit square be on the north shore or the south shore? Or should we have one square on each shore?
- How much can / should we involve community groups, businesses, individual citizens in the planning and funding of the spirit square project?
It is an interesting process to go through. Next step is to figure out how much money and/or other resources we want to spend on this effort.
Yes, planning desperately needed for the following reasons:
1. Kamloops decided to set its bandshell and music so that the audience is completely exposed to the hot sun, with as many as possible tucking themselves in under the limited shade available.
2. Kamloops built a god-awful ugly bridge inaccessible to pedestrians, strollers, people using wheelchairs, etc.
3. Pedestrian access across the Overlander Bridge requires that one walks significantly long inescapable stretches completely at the mercy of whoever else happens to be present.
4. Kamloops spent a lot of money on a god-awful ugly steel and concrete library (etc), and forgot to consider Kamloops' weather, such that users must now avoid falling ice...
5. There are no "green" (living) areas in the downtown shopping district, including at the library.
6. Etc.
Yes, the City should indeed not only to consult with citizens this time, but to actually, oh, follow through on what they hear from those citizens. Enough of claiming that "no one" contacted them about such issues! The ignorance cannot be excused any longer.
One on each Shore would be wonderful.
Money? Skip the sculptures, the overpriced concrete, tiling, etc. Keep it simple. A space plus seeds costs relatively little.
Posted by: Jane | January 22, 2007 at 10:10 PM
actually sculptures are a great way to add to our city , and yes I do agree that it should be down town , thats face it as a North Shore resident I know as does everyones else ( even if they wont say it ) if we build a place like this on the N/S it will be full of homeless , hookers and drugs. thats just the way it is , people can deny it all they want but the N/S is NOT ready for this .
Posted by: Norris Laitinen | January 26, 2007 at 12:50 AM
I live downtown and will say that just as with our library plaza, certain hours of the day a space would probably host homeless people, sure. (They have to be somewhere.)
Right now, there are no drugs outside of the library --because while the sleeping homeless are kicked out of that facility, other people are getting away with snorting cocaine in the study booths. (Go figure.)
I don't think we can disallow a public square because of who might use it. The whole idea is for it to be populated. I don't want John DeCicco to use it, but even he will probably be allowed to.
Maybe it would even be a perfect place for the Salvation Army to set up their soup van in the evenings (as they currently do in an empty lot downtown).
As for sculptures...Alright, I will vote for sculptures if you, Norris, personally fund this extraneous purchase. My property taxes are going up drastically this year. No sculpture-funding for me!
Posted by: Jane | January 26, 2007 at 01:19 PM