{"id":16198,"date":"2017-01-04T12:07:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T17:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=16198"},"modified":"2017-01-04T12:07:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T17:07:42","slug":"historian-pitches-bold-vision-for-historic-armoury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/historian-pitches-bold-vision-for-historic-armoury\/","title":{"rendered":"Historian pitches bold vision for historic armoury"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Aurora Armoury on the northeast corner of Town Park has a storied place in the Town\u2019s history, but has the potential to be a community hub long into the future, according to local historian Christopher Watts.
\nTown Park, the green space in the heart of Downtown Aurora, celebrates its 150th Anniversary this year, and if Mr. Watts \u2013 and the Aurora Heritage Authority (AHA) \u2013 gets its way, the anniversary, through the adaptive reuse of the armoury, will open a significant new chapter for the community hub.
\nLast month, Council approved moving forward with the repurposing of the Armoury, part of a greater decision which included the demolition of the former homes of the Aurora Public Library and Aurora Seniors\u2019 Centre on Victoria Street.
\nAhead of Council\u2019s decision, local lawmakers were presented with the AHA\u2019s elaborate vision by Mr. Watts, dubbed \u201cThe Aurora Farmoury.\u201d
\n\u201cOne of the things that is lost when we get into the Cultural Precinct Plan is effectively there is no innovative design elements, no integrated land use, and really no engaging programming or anything to serve as a creative hub,\u201d said Mr. Watts. \u201cThose repurposed pieces really don\u2019t speak to anything that is going to set Aurora apart.\u201d
\nWhat he proposed is an \u201cempowerment centre\u201d which might seem to some to be another Farmers\u2019 Market, at least on the surface, but has just about as many layers as an onion. Their proposal was based on four principles: education, community, exchange and sustainability.
\nBeginning with \u201cexchange,\u201d Mr. Watts said the existing market needs a greater presence, centering the Market on the armoury to provide an all-season market.
\n\u201cOne of the things that is an easy victory is that shelter space,\u201d said Mr. Watts. \u201cIt provides everything from current stability, a consistency and provides all of those things an indoor market doesn\u2019t really do. [It also] lends itself to an evening market. A Farmers\u2019 Market is great on Saturdays, but if you don\u2019t make it, you don\u2019t make it. If we take the evening approach and also layer in an Wednesday or Thursday night market into that space, you have vitality but you are also allowing people to come in midweek and pick up stuff they weren\u2019t able to get.\u201d
\nThis, he said, tied in nicely with continued calls for a grocery store \u2013 or something along those lines \u2013 in Aurora\u2019s Downtown Core, which were voiced several times at a public information session held in December by Councillors Tom Mrakas and Michael Thompson, just days before Council\u2019s final decision on Library Square.
\nAn all-season expanded market is just one of the ways Mr. Watts says the Armoury can reach maximum potential for Aurora and its citizens. Additional components proposed include a full industrial teaching kitchen to provide education and rental opportunities, kitchen and seed libraries, day camps focused on the educational power of food and farming, a pop-up cinema, a place for Aurorans to trade their goods with others, and even a \u201cHall of Farm\u201d which pays tribute to the farms and farmers of Aurora\u2019s past, as well as its agricultural milestones.
\nAlthough some Council members expressed concern that the components as a whole might be too much for a comparatively small space, the presentation included schedules and layouts on how everything can be accommodated.
\nAlthough the reuse of the Armoury will be a study that will happen further into 2017, the \u201cFarmoury\u201d is a concept that caught Council\u2019s attention \u2013 with Councillor Sandra Humfryes describing it as \u201cvisionary.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have been wondering what to do and where to go [with that building] and you have provided such incredible ideas,\u201d she said. \u201cI think there is a great opportunity to see some of this come to fruition.\u201d
\nAdded Councillor John Abel: \u201cThere is lots to work in that space. I know when we purchased the armoury, it was meant to be part of the park and it belongs to the public. It is a matter of coming together and engaging the community. I am all for engaging and moving forward for a public domain to do public things.\u201d
\nIn the end, if Council adopts the \u201cFarmoury\u201d concept, the Armoury would be a hub for what Mr. Watts estimates a total of 64 hours a week with evening programming happening every day.
\n\u201cIf you go to the Market you\u2019re going to get a six hour window versus 64,\u201d says Mr. Watts. \u201cIt is overlapping [programs] for maximum revenue generation that comes out of the repurposing study. Your opportunities are vast to be able to leverage what you have. Let\u2019s utilize some of the canvas we already have. Let\u2019s do some creative, eye-catching things.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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