Ontario’s History the Key to OPPI Case Competition Win

After much discussion, we settled on the three parcels of land: a hotel/resort (similar to those in Blue Mountain) with a cidery on parcel #1; an open area with a park, skating facility, stacked townhouses, and a welcome centre, architecturally based on traditional Ojibway Waginogan structure on parcel #2; and townhouses on parcel #3 to fulfill the growing population of Meaford.

To create a four season destination, a beach was proposed along parcel #1 with an extended waterfront trail for walking and biking in the summer, and warming stations along the route in the winter to make skiing and snowshoeing more comfortable. Our group also proposed a woonerf (defined by Google as “a road in which devices for reducing or slowing the flow of traffic have been installed”) at the end of Boucher Street (between parcel #1 and #2). This creates a walkable and safe space for pedestrians in the summer with the ability to close the road off completely for street festivals, and in the winter to accommodate vehicular traffic to support businesses. This area would be named “The Core.”

Lessons Learned
 
Our central focus was to incorporate Meaford’s rich history and culture into the waterfront redevelopment plan. The judges acknowledged that the inclusion of all histories was the key reason why the proposal put forward by our team was chosen to be the best “fit” for Meaford.
 
Acknowledging and using Ontario’s history to maintain a presence when planning for future development is an important component in redevelopment. As a group, we look forward to presenting our winning case competition project at the 2017 OPPI Conference in the Town of Blue Mountains this October.