A funny thing happened on the way to the editorial pages in todays Windsor Star.I read through Gord Henderson's column which continued on his previous columns in pronouncing the death of a downtown university campus. Gord tells us about these City Centre West renderings I have been hearing so much about. The ones that I was told would make my mouth break out in an instantaneous torrent of saliva. The ones that "show the area from the new bus terminal west to Caron Avenue, and from University Avenue north to Riverside Drive, changed from asphalt wasteland into a dynamic urban space featuring attractive academic buildings, creative museum space, student residences and existing housing." If Francis wants to build public suport behind the downtown campus, the best thing he could do would be to "leak" these drawings. However, according to the Henderson, the dream is all but dead - "Plenty of vision. Lots of great pictures. But no cash. The story of our lives."
Then, right next to Gord's column on page A3, sat Grace Macaluso's "Mixed signals sent over U of W project", which basically apologises for Gord's current stance that the project is dead: "(t)his is despite the fact that Star columnist Gord Henderson today cites university board of governors chairman Marty Komsa explaining that the board has not only rejected putting the engineering school downtown, it has also passed on a follow-up proposal to put an ambitious $58-million mixed-use campus downtown due to lack of funds." According to Macaluso, , Lori Lewis, U of W manager of news services, said her comments on the weekend about the downtown proposal were premature. "I may have spoken out of turn," she said.
Talk about mixed messages.
This is what happens when the public is given only tidbits of tantalizing news. Like the land developers we love to hate, we speculate, guestimate and postulate, which benefits nobody but the people selling newspapers.
I am excited by the fact that the University appears to be backpedaling on their firm stance against a downtown campus, however. Maybe the DWBIA's forum tonight featuring Rick Haldenby from the University of Waterloo will open up a few eyes and ears to the possibilities that lie ahead if the public rallies their support behind these plans.
I don't think we are hiding our support here at SDW. The evidence is clear about the benefits hundreds of students living, learning and playing in an urban campus brings to the host community. We are also not convinced that the new Centre for Engineering Innovation is the only campus that would work. How about the new Law or Medical campus?
We must dare to dream, and this is where publicizing Francis' dreams-on-paper of a rejuvinated downtown would catapult us closer to that reality.
2 comments:
Give up that parcel (gratis)to a local developer like Mady Corp. under the proviso that they build high end, desirable residential units. That solves the money problem plus it will add a nice population boost to the core. Let the University campus grow where it is so that everything a student could want is immediately accessible. The city should have never torn down all of those lovely brownstones in the first place. Especially because they did not have a firm grasp of the recommended project of that time; an arena. In the world of P-3 thinking, this should be a NO BRAINER!
"Give up that parcel (gratis)to a local developer like Mady Corp. under the proviso that they build high end, desirable residential units." Who is going to buy such units? The last time I checked, Windsor's unemployment rate was one of the highest in Canada.
Realistically, a law/arts/social work faculty campus is the best fit for Windsor's downtown area. To save money, the students and faculty of the aforementioned programs could use the computer labs in the St. Clair Centre for the Arts. Why isn't a partnership between St. Clair College and the University of Windsor being discussed? Are college/university politics (university is better than college) preventing the development of said partnership?
What about internships? Social work students could intern at the Children's Aid Society or Hotel Dieu, which is within walking distance of Windsor's downtown. Law students could intern at a number of law offices located within walking distance of Windsor's downtown. The possibilities for arts students are obvious.
Like most post-secondary institutions, the University of Windsor is indebted;
funds must be raised to pay for everything that the U of W wants to construct. The DWBIA and the "Corporation" of the City of Windsor will have to provide some money for any university development located in Windsor's downtown.
All things considered, the timing of this particular proposal is poor. Once again, governments are resorting to building construction to stimulate the economy.
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