Charles Street Terminal redevelopment process inching forward
The City of Kitchener’s Finance and Corporate Services Committee has approved a next step in the process that will ultimately determine the future for the Charles Street Terminal.
Operations at the former bus terminal in Kitchener’s downtown core wrapped up in 2019. The site was used as COVID-19 testing clinic from December 2020 to March 2022, but has since been empty.
The terminal, which makes up 88 per cent of the block, is owned by the Region of Waterloo, with the City of Kitchener owning a parking lot that makes up the remaining 12 per cent of the nearly three acre property.
At Monday afternoon’s meeting, the committee approved a Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies how responsibilities and cost sharing will be handled going forward.
Among the arrangements it puts in place, city staff will participate in all applicable processes, but the region will lead and pay for all processes and preliminary work, and the region will be the final decision maker on consultant selections.
The report says preliminary work, including extensive community consultations, environmental work, technical studies, urban design briefs, and a heritage impact assessment, is estimated to cost $840,000. City and regional staff will equally split the cost of community consultation, while the other costs will be split proportional to the percentage of land ownership.
Public engagement on the future of the former bus terminal began in 2021. (EngageWR.ca)
The Memorandum of Understanding notes it does not constitute approval for a future development, as any decision on that would be subject to council deliberations.
Ahead of the vote, Ward 9 Coun. Debbie Chapman asked there be further clarity provided to address questions being raised about a potential sale of the property, as the MOU lays out a plan for how the city’s expenses will be deducted at the time the land is sold.
Executive Director of Economic Development Cory Bluhm told councillors: “Semantically, the way it was laid out in the report, could be interpreted that the outcome is sale, when really one of the outcomes is sale, the other may not be sale, so this just clarifies the semantic difference in the report.”
Public engagement on the future of the site began in 2021. Co-founders of Land Back Camp Bangishimo and Amy Smoke have been calling for it to be turned into an Indigenous community hub, even creating a short film about their vision.
More details on the project’s progression can be found on EngageWR.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Approximately 50 Montreal-area students — the vast majority of them female — were suspended Wednesday after their school deemed the shorts they were wearing were too short. On Thursday, several students staged a walk-out to protest what they believe is a "sexist" dress code that unfairly targets girls.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving 'corrective action' for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
'It's over': Minister says B.C.'s decision on Surrey police transition upheld in court
The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled in the provincial government's favour on the City of Surrey's legal challenge to its ongoing transition to a municipal police force, according to B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.
Luxury beauty brand Clarins to pull out of Hudson's Bay stores in Canada
French luxury makeup and skincare brand Clarins is pulling out of Hudson's Bay stores in Canada.
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
American Airlines retreats after blaming a 9-year-old for not seeing a hidden camera in a lavatory
American Airlines has distanced itself from a court filing in which the carrier said a nine-year-old girl should have noticed there was a camera taped to the seat of an airplane lavatory.
Ottawa police investigating death of a gosling in Kanata
Ottawa police are investigating after someone allegedly stomped on a gosling in Kanata. Police say it appears that Canada geese laid eggs in the area, 'and on May 21, a suspect stomped on one of the hatched babies.'