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  #21  
Old Posted May 23, 2009, 6:12 PM
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Breslau Community Centre start pushed back

By: Steve Kannon, OBSERVER XTRA, Saturday, May 22, 2009


Woolwich hopes a one-month delay will translate into a pile of cash for a new community centre in Breslau.

Expecting to hear by the end of June if the township will receive federal and provincial funding for the project, councillors this week pushed back the start of construction to July 2. Work had been expected to get underway June 1.

Woolwich has applied for money from the Building Canada Fund. If approved, the municipality would see the senior governments each kick in one-third of the cost of the $2.2 million project, explained director of recreation and facilities Larry Devitt.

The delay would also give the township and contractor Gateman-Milloy Inc. time to find more efficiencies to hold down costs on the project, he added.

While supportive of the move Tuesday night, Ward 3 Coun. Murray Martin warned against further setbacks for the long-delayed development.

“We haven’t done one thing on time with this project,” he said, noting delays throughout the process and eventually gaining reassurances construction would begin in July no matter what happens with the Building Canada grant.

“I think the community will understand – there’s an awful lot of money at stake here,” noted Coun. Ruby Weber.

Once construction begins, the contractor expects the work to take about 22 weeks to complete. A July 2 start would take the project into mid-December.

The 10,000-square-foot structure will be joined to the existing Empire Communities Ltd. sales office, which is to be turned over to the township when the 475-home subdivision is built out.

The Ventin Group Architects’ final design came after a long process of consultation with residents and the Breslau Recreation Association.

While the final price tag, the lowest of 12 bids, was some $460,000 higher than budgeted for, the financing was deemed workable. Changes to the development charges formula, plus community fundraising in excess of the original $330,000 target will reduce the gap to $106,000. Community fundraising efforts continue.

The new building, a gymnasium/community centre, will be built to complement the existing sales pavilion erected by Empire Communities. That structure is 3,600 sq. ft.; with the basement included, it provides about 7,000 sq. ft.

Under a deal made with the township in 2006, the company located the facility at Breslau Memorial Park with the intention of selling it to the municipality for $2 when the subdivision is built out.


http://observerxtra.com/2/news/bresl...t-pushed-back/
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  #22  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2009, 2:47 AM
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Quote:
Heritage protection sought for township halls

By Steve Kannon, OBSERVER XTRA
Friday, November 6, 2009

Woolwich’s former township halls – one in Elmira, the other in Conestogo – are on their way to be deemed heritage structures. The township this week gave official ‘notice of intention to designate’ under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Both buildings were declared as surplus properties in September, the first step in Woolwich’s plan to sell them, but neither will go on the market until the heritage process is complete, likely by the end of the year.

Official designation will place restrictions on any future alterations to structures.

In the case of the Elmira facility, located at 69 Arthur St. S., exterior facades facing Arthur and Wyatt streets, as well as the interior of the clock tower dating back to 1914, will be protected, director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley told councillors meeting Tuesday night.

Showing influences of classical and Italianate styles, the structure is a replica of similar public buildings, mainly post offices, located in small Ontario towns. With its clock tower – still in use today – it’s the only building in the entire township built in the “Ontario Post Office Style.”

Although altered with additions over the years, much of the exterior facing Wyatt and Arthur streets retains the original design and character, he explained.

The building has been in public use since its construction, as a post office, police station and township hall.

The old township hall in Conestogo, located at 1924 Sawmill Rd., was built in 1888 as a church for the Mennonite Brethren in Christ. The entire exterior, which represents a good example of the style of construction used by Mennonite builders at the time, will be protected under the heritage designation.

It was used as a church until it was sold to the township in 1939.

The building’s interior has been greatly modified over the years, and won’t be covered by the designation.

Coun. Murray Martin, citing the example of the structure’s stone foundation, asked how much flexibility the owner of the building would have to do repairs.

“It wouldn’t have to be identical, but something similar – something sympathetic to the heritage designation,” Kennaley explained.

Designation would see the buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the same process assigned to the West Montrose Covered Bridge in 2007.
I never knew that Woolwich Township's hall used to be located in Conestogo. I would definitely like to check it out as Conestogo has some nice historical houses and buildings along Sawmill Road.

http://observerxtra.com/2/news/herit...ownship-halls/
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  #23  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2009, 2:31 AM
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St. Jacobs shops on the move as marketing firm gets set to move to Riverworks

By Rose Simone, THE RECORD
Monday, December 21, 2009

ST. JACOBS
– There will be a lot of movement in the village of St. Jacobs as the 90 employees of Waterloo-based Quarry Integrated Communications prepare to move into the Riverworks building, and 11 retailers in the building relocate elsewhere.

The marketing and communications company recently signed an agreement with Mercedes Corp. to rent 24,000 square feet of space in Riverworks.

To make room for Quarry, 11 retailers will be moving out, mostly by the end of January. The company plans to move into the building by May 1.

Ken Whyte, Quarry’s president, said the Riverworks building, located on King Street across from the Mill building, is the perfect location for the company.

Quarry currently is in the Allen Square building on King Street in downtown Waterloo, but the employees are spread over different floors. “We are a little too big for one floor here and we were looking to try to get all of our main teammates together, Whyte said.

The company looked at a number of options, but “at the end of the day, the St. Jacobs building met all of the criteria,” he said.

St. Jacobs has shops, restaurants and other amenities close at hand for the company’s employees and any clients who visit. The building also is in keeping with the company’s brand and image, Whyte added.

“The building itself has a lovely character with the old reclaimed brick and wood beams. For our organization, which is a creative organization, it is an ideal location.”

Having offices overlooking the Conestogo River also “will help spur the creative juices,” he said.

Although some retailers in Riverworks are not happy about having to move, many said that having 90 office workers in the village on a year-round basis will be good for business.

Catherine Hodgkinson, co-owner of the Book Market on the second floor of Riverworks, said it will be hard for her to find a bright and unique space like the one her bookstore has now. But she said she understands why Mercedes decided to do this.

A large part of Riverworks has been empty and even before the recession started the village’s tourism-dependent retail sector was struggling because of the high Canadian dollar and fluctuating gas prices, she said.

She said she and her husband have found a temporary space for their store in St. Jacobs, but they are still looking for a suitable permanent location. She said Mercedes has been trying to accommodate the effected businesses in other places in St. Jacobs as much as possible.

Taste The 4th Sense, a division of The Salivation Company, will be moving into the Mill building across the street. Ellen Roche, the shop’s general manager, said she is pleased Quarry will be renting most of the space in Riverworks.

“There is a lot of empty space in this building and we are excited about the prospects of people actually working in St. Jacobs,” she said. “It will bring some activity into the village. It brings a lot of bodies here.”

Roche added that Quarry’s arrival will helps people realize that St. Jacobs is not a remote community, nor is it exclusively dedicated to tourism. “Change is a good thing, even though the process can be painful,” she said.

Fauke Lipperson, owner of the Grand River Garment Co., is also packing to move in a few weeks. “We are not exactly sure yet where we will be moving because we are still negotiating with a few people, but I don’t think it will be a problem because there are a lot of places available right now,” Lipperson said. “It will be a new beginning for us.”

Jenny Shantz, leasing and development manager for Mercedes, said that with many more retailers in the village now compared to 20 years ago, when Riverworks was developed, it was time for a change.

“We really needed to rebalance the commercial uses in St. Jacobs because we are a little village with almost 100 per cent retail in the core and hardly any services,” she said.

Mercedes is doing its best to try to find spaces for the retailers that will be dislocated, she said. “We have been able to accommodate most of the businesses within the village. In some cases they have chosen to relocate elsewhere.”

Alan Quarry, Quarry’s founder and chief executive officer, said the company’s move into St. Jacobs will be a “win-win,” for the company and the community.

“The spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that the St Jacob’s community is famous for makes this a perfect move for the Quarry team,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to combining our creative and industrious culture with the existing energy of St Jacobs.”
I remember my mom taking me shopping at Riverworks quite often as a kid. One of the things I remember the most was this large indor jungle gym in the middle where parents could drop their kids off while they shopped. I also remember a really cool bird store right when you walked in where they had all these wooden carved woodpeckers on strings and when you pulled them they knocked on a tree trunk. They also sold along a bunch of other cool outdoorsy stuff most of which was carved out of wood. Too bad. There were also a lot of cool toy stores there and such. I haven't been to Riverworks in probably 10 years. I don't really know if a large office belongs in the heart of St. Jacobs. I wonder which part it will occupy...

From:
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/648080
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Last edited by Duke-Of-Waterloo; Dec 22, 2009 at 2:45 AM.
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