A world-class gem by the lake

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
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The Beach Strip
#1
Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator
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May 21, 2015

Hamilton Spectator
By Bob Mitchell


A world-class year-round lakeside park will rise along Burlington's waterfront over the next 20 to 25 years, according to a plan presented to regional council committee members.

The plan, which is projected to cost more than $51 million, has been nearly a decade in the making and will cover about three kilometres from Spencer Smith Park to the Burlington Canal on the Hamilton border.

It will include six distinct areas, developed in two phases, which will be connected through trails, boardwalks and bike paths.

A reconfiguration of Lakeshore Road is also being proposed in order to create one continuous public park.

"This is an absolute gold mine ..." said regional chair Gary Carr. "This resource is located nowhere else. If we don't do it right, one of the legacies of this council will be that we didn't do what we were supposed to do when we were supposed to do it."

Final approval for the plan - officially called the Master Plan for the Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park - will be discussed at the regional council meeting May 27.

The committee heard that the first five areas will be developed within five to 10 years and will cost about $31 million. The price includes hydro tower relocation - which Hydro One estimated in 2013 would cost between $8 and $12 million - and property acquisition. A further $20 million will be needed to develop the last phase.

"This is an extraordinary destination within the City of Burlington, the region and the province," said Matt Reid, project manager for the proposed redevelopment.

He described it as a "bold, environmentally sustainable vision" that will become a destination point for the local residents, tourists, and cultural events and will generate significant economic benefit for the city, the region and the province.

The plan was developed by a consultant team led by internationally-recognized BrookMcIllroy and the region has had extensive consultation with the City of Burlington and Conservation Halton over the past 18 months.

"Our great quality of life will only be enhanced by further investment in this for generations to come," said Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring, adding that it's "a great project."

The six proposed areas are:

•Spencer Smith Park: It will stay a formal park and a primary festival and event destination. It includes the Brant Street Pier, an upgraded promenade, new lighting and special event space.

•The Living Shoreline: Immediately next to Spencer Smith, the area connects the formal park with natural aspects of Burlington Beach. Its will include a First Nations Interpretation Area and an Aboriginal gas fire circle gathering place. There will also be a new shoreline boardwalk.

•The Strand: A traditional beach and swimming area with children's play and water-theme play areas, outdoor exercise areas and bicycle repair stations.

•The Wind Beach: A natural and educational area with beach access and a dune boardwalk and trails.

•The Commons: It will be used for small-scale cultural, festival events and includes an artisan marketplace. Lakeshore Road will be reconfigured. Volleyball courts and lawn bowling facilities will be here, along with a pond for remote control boating in the summer and skating in the winter. There will also be a patio over the water. It will be the last to be developed.

•The Skyway and Federal Pier: It includes an active lift bridge and various marine interpretive areas and observation areas for Great Lakes ships entering the Burlington Canal. There will also be a direct cycling connection to Hamilton and upgrades to the federal pier.

Phase 1 includes properties under public ownership, so construction can begin as soon as the region gives the green light.

Phase 2 will begin once the 27 remaining residential properties are purchased over the next 20 to 25 years. Four properties have already been purchased.

Committee members heard the region will have opportunities to change and scale-down the plan as it goes forward.

Additional financial details will be presented at council with another major update in July. One of the big concerns is who will pay for the hydro tower relocation.

If regional council approves the plan, the financials would be discussed as part of the 2016 budget.



Oakville Beaver



 

Sebastian

Registered User
May 1, 2014
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Beach Strip
#2
Interesting - I have a feeling from signs by the trail, that some home owners on the Burlington side, are not very enthusiastic to sell - so I suppose it may take a while for this to happen.
I wonder when this hydro tower relocation will happen, and if it will happen on our side
 

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
218
63
The Beach Strip
#3
Interesting - I have a feeling from signs by the trail, that some home owners on the Burlington side, are not very enthusiastic to sell - so I suppose it may take a while for this to happen.
I wonder when this hydro tower relocation will happen, and if it will happen on our side
We have been following the progress on the Burlington side of the Beach as it reminds us of the battle we had to keep our side from becoming a park and the loss of our community.
http://hamiltonbeachcommunity.com/f...-Burlington-Beach-homes-could-become-parkland

And I don't see the hydro towers being removed unless there is a lot of money is on the table, not going to happen.



More on Burlington Beach;
http://mrburlington.ca/beachway-park-burlington/
 

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
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The Beach Strip
#4
Not all favour Burlington waterfront plan

This article was sent by member David
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Bay Observer Staff June 15, 2015

When Jim Milner met his wife Marie in 1948, she was working at the old White Towers restaurant on the Burlington beach strip

Milner, 81, has lived on the strip for 76 years, the last 44 in the house he now owns. The couple have been married for 60 years and just love it.

“We have no intention of ever selling to the City,” he said. “Our grandchildren want this house.

Last week Halton Regional Council voted to go ahead with a new waterfront park and that will eventually mean the removal of residences. Only four members of council – Jack Dennison and Marianne Meed Ward of Burlington, along with Colin Best and Mike Cluett of Milton – voted to allow residents to remain in their homes when the park is completed. There are currently 27 homes in the area on either side of Lakeshore Road.

The park plan will be phased in over 25 years. The first five phases, which include the already existing Spencer Smith Park, the Living Shoreline, The Strand, The Wind Beach and The Commons, will be built over the next decade.

The final phase, called the Skyway and Federal Pier, will come later. Major attributes of that phase will be various marine interpretive areas and observation points for Great Lakes ships entering the Burlington Canal.

The Living Shoreline will feature a First Nations Interpretation Area and an Aboriginal gas fire circle gathering place overlooking the water. Bicycle repair stations will be part of The Strand, while festivals and cultural events will be permitted in The Commons.

As part of the project, hydro towers also are to be moved at a cost of between $8 million and $12 million.

Total cost of the project is $51.4 million.

Meed Ward said the historic neighborhood has existed along the beach strip for more than 100 years, well before any plans for the park were drawn up.

“We already have a world class legacy park – the sand beach along the water and the walking path,” she said. “There is no reason to remove an historic neighbourhood – the homes don’t impede public access of the beach.

“The residents add value, vibrancy, eyes on the street, and history to the area and have coexisted with the public beach for over 100 years. I hope they can continue to coexist for another 100 years.

“I hope that a future council 10 or 20 years from now will see the wisdom of keeping the historic residential enclave along the beach strip, and stop acquiring and tearing down private homes.”

However Rick Craven, councillor for Ward 1 in which the beach strip is located, takes a long range view and favors moving ahead with the park so that citizens will have a beautiful asset 25 years from now.

The Bay Observer left a message for Dennison, but he had not replied by press time.

Milner said the City has offered to have his home appraised, then make him an offer and pay for both his moving expenses and legal fees.

“But what they offer won’t be anywhere near market value,” he said. “To us, there is no price on it.”

History books record that in 1795 the government of Upper Canada purchased the entire beach strip from the Mississauga Indians for just 100 pounds of goods.

The sand strip on Lake Ontario was formed many centuries ago by the action of the winds and the waves. Marsh plants and bullrushes grew up on the bay margin and eventually trees flourished.

An old map indicated that by 1798 several families were established at the north end of the strip, and by 1813 settlement was progressing with the construction of homes and storehouses.

Milner believes regional council, with members from Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville, as well as Burlington, is too far removed from the situation to make an intelligent decision.

“I don’t think most members of regional council have any idea what costs are,” he said. “Of the 17 who voted not to let us stay, I’d say 15 have never even been down to the beach.”

In his book ‘Memories of the Beach Strip’, historian Gary Evans wrote that it once was the site of the magnificient Brant Hotel, which had accommodation for 300 people, but was seized by the government in 1917 and converted into a hospital for veterans of the First World Ward. The hotel, which rented rooms for $2.50 per day, eventually was demolished in 1937

An amusement park was established on the Hamilton side of the Beach Strip in 1903 and lasted for 75 years. It attracted as many as 40,000 people on weekends.

“In those days every kid on the beach had a summer job at the amusement park,” Milner said.

Dennis Gibbons


http://bayobserver.ca/not-all-favour-burlington-waterfront-plan/
 
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