{"id":23104,"date":"2019-03-01T16:18:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=23104"},"modified":"2019-03-01T16:18:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:18:42","slug":"outdoor-spaces-draw-questions-in-library-square-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/outdoor-spaces-draw-questions-in-library-square-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor spaces draw questions in Library Square plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Ice \u2013 and coffee \u2013 could help Library Square become a year-round attention.
\nWhile the planned three-storey addition to the Church Street School building, the proposed 200+ seat theatre within it, and associated parking, has generated considerable Council discussions, turning the gathering space into a year-round attraction with a seasonal water and ice feature have raised their own questions.
\nAs reported to The Auroran earlier this month, and discussed by Council last week, the centrepiece of the Library Square redevelopment is zeroing in on an attraction that would be a fountain-like water feature in the warmer weather and, come fall and winter, would pull double duty as a refrigerated skating rink.
\n\u201cOriginally, Council approved the design without an ice rink, however, through discussions, it became evident that to activate the square year-round, aside from the attraction of special events, an ice rink was needed to draw the public to the space during the winter months,\u201d said Robin McDougall, Director of Community Services, for the Town of Aurora. \u201cThis feature requires a refrigeration system, a mechanical building, and a small ice resurfacer. The ice rink would be located in the area where the summer water feature would take place. Approval of the additional ice rink would be required to proceed.
\n\u201cThe outdoor space will serve as a place to gather to enjoy the peaceful environment or to take part in special events such as festivals, market fairs, movie nights, etc. Other features in the outdoor space include consideration for lighting, hydro, water sources, shade features, and a pathway connecting the Library and the new addition.\u201d
\nA type of caf\u00e9 space \u2013 the exact type of which is yet to be determined, but integrated into the build nearby \u2013 is also being considered as part of the design to keep revellers refreshed, whether they\u2019re coming out of the water feature or off the ice.
\nThe creation of the new outdoor attraction was hailed as a \u201cgreat addition\u201d to the land\u2019s transformation into a \u201csocial area\u201d by Councillor Rachel Gilliland, who added with everything going on in the centre of Library Square patrons might want a slightly quieter place to sit and read.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re still evaluating the function of the caf\u00e9,\u201d said Ms. McDougall in response. \u201cIn cooperation with the Library and their food services, we don\u2019t want to be in a position where we\u2019re offering the same thing. We\u2019re trying to design it so it can be used as a refreshment space for events that spill out onto the Square. There could also be a\u2026place people could gather. We want to be careful not to compete with the Library; they have a specific intent with their food services and at least with that space it provides the flexibility to host events, pull people inside, or they can be gravitating outside and still have a place to gather, have a coffee [and] sit.\u201d
\nCouncillors Wendy Gaertner and John Gallo also had concerns regarding the caf\u00e9 space.
\nWhile Councillor Gaertner said the plans look \u201cfantastic,\u201d she questioned whether it was ever anticipated to have a dedicated space in Library Square for a caf\u00e9 vendor or something similar, or a small restaurant.
\n\u201cI just feel this space could really use that type of venue for people to go and either eat and sit and have a coffee, she said.
\nMs. McDougall replied that they want to be as \u201ccooperative a cultural partner\u201d as possible during the Library Square build process.
\n\u201cI am envisioning something a little
\nmore elaborate, and perhaps even generating some income [and] if a particular vendor would see this as something attractive, there could be a revenue source,\u201d added Councillor Gallo. \u201cIn the drawings, I don\u2019t see a space for any of that. Unless you\u2019re going to close that open space for a vendor to operate, it would be hard to do that after because it is just an open space [now] and how would you close that up afterward?\u201d
\nAt the end of the day, Councillor Gaertner said the outdoor features missed the mark. A fountain, she said, was a definite want in community consultations on what residents would like to see within the square. Jets of water coming out of the ground just don\u2019t cut it.
\n\u201cEverybody wants a fountain, and these are jets of water,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have jets of water in our Town Park for kids to play in and that is not a fountain. I\u2019m just one person speaking on this, but I think the public will expect it. I don\u2019t mean a fountain of water standing in the middle of the square, I mean running water somehow coming out of a wall, some sort of water that doesn\u2019t squirt up from the ground.\u201d
\nConsultant David Leinster, a planner with the Planning Partnership, said additional fountain work could pose some challenges.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with a Square that needs to be versatile,\u201d he said, noting he would look into adding a wall feature. \u201cI\u2019m also concerned, for example, that you can\u2019t have standing water in a fountain any longer. If children or anybody engages with that water, there are very strict controls now around that.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ice \u2013 and coffee \u2013 could help Library Square become a year-round attention.
\nWhile the planned three-storey addition to the Church Street School building, the proposed 200+ seat theatre within it, and associated parking, has generated considerable Council discussions, turning the gathering space into a year-round attraction with a seasonal water and ice feature have raised their own questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-60E","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 19:05:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}