New UW school of architecture takes shape and helps boost Cambridge's economy
KEVIN SWAYZE
CAMBRIDGE
Shane Murphy has endured the bad times in Cambridge's downtown. Now, the hair salon owner is enjoying better times as workers push to meet a fall deadline to convert an old textile mill along the opposite shore of the Grand River into the new University of Waterloo school of architecture.
"After 25 years, I'm starting to see things change for the better. It's coming alive," said the owner of Clipper's Hair Styling at 15 Main St.
"I really noticed it last year. There are more people on the street."
Of every 10 customers who sit in her chairs, at least three ask her if the new school is going to increase her business. Or they wonder how the $27.2 million investment will boost the downtown's fortunes. There's optimism in the air along Main Street that Murphy hasn't sensed before. It's a dramatic change from the scorn heaped on the downtown in the tough 1990s, after the Woolco store closed and empty storefronts sprouted.
The old Galt downtown, the district's commercial hub a century ago, had hit bottom and staggered along for most of the decade. Murphy, however, kept the faith. She bought Clippers four years ago, after working there 21 years. She saw how regulars kept the business going. Now, new faces are coming in more often.
"I think downtown is changing. It's more than the architecture school. I think there's more stuff going on."
Murphy isn't the only voice of optimism downtown. Property owners are cleaning up buildings, empty storefronts are rare and developers are dusting off apartment and condominium plans. City council encourages investment in the city's Galt, Preston and Hespeler core areas by waiving development fees, deferring property tax increases and paying for cleanup of contaminated sites. Murphy need only look to her landlords, Tom and Rosalind Hart, as evidence of the financial commitment people are making downtown.
The couple sold their west Salisbury Avenue house and are moving downtown, into a stunning new two-bedroom apartment over The Boardwalk at 15-19 Main St.
The apartment was a mess when they bought the building, Tom Hart said. It sat vacant until earlier this year, when they renovated it into a new home.
If things go as planned, they'll have architecture students for neighbours in September. Tom Hart said he's planning to create three student apartments on the third and fourth floors of the former Walker department store this summer. He's waiting to finalize an arrangement with UW to rent the apartments to students before works starts. Once the first apartments are filled, there's room to add three more.
"The school, in my mind, has changed attitudes more than anything. I think people have a different attitude about downtown and there are more people downtown," Hart said.
Drywall and framing has been ripped away on the fourth floor, uncovering two arched windows overlooking Main Street rooftops. It's like peeling away the wrapping on a gift for a downtown landlord: the view is spectacular, there's not an empty storefront in sight and two-year-old loft apartments across the street are full.
Hart sits on the city's core areas rejuvenation committee. What he sees through those fourth-floor windows is vindication for his faith in a downtown clawing its way back after decades of battering by urban sprawl and suburban shopping malls.
"It's proof if you provide it, they will come to it," he said.
That's what The Lancer Group, a Toronto development company, is counting on.
Lancer owns a big hole in the ground at Wellington and Main streets where it plans to build an 85-unit condominium block. Wellington Square plans were finalized in early June. Without any advertising, 24 prospective buyers have each put down $500 deposits to reserve a unit.
"That's incredible. It's very encouraging," said Steven Lindy, vice-president of development at Lancer.
Advertising of the project started last weekend. Prices for the one- and two-bedroom units range from $99,900 to $180,000. If the surge of interest continues, Lindy said construction could start by summer's end.
Lancer has plans for a second building on the site, but hasn't finalized them. It could offer more condominiums, or rental apartments. City zoning allows, at most, another 80 units on the site.
Other developers are kicking tires in downtown, too. A preliminary site plan is circulating at city hall for about 120 units on the old Galtaco foundry site, at Shade and Kerr streets. There's also another apartment plan proposed on Wellington Street. No firm plans have surfaced for either project.
When Lancer heard two years ago that the school of architecture was moving to Cambridge, it started looking into the local market, Lindy said.
"I love Cambridge. Every time I come to Cambridge, it's like a breath of fresh air," the Toronto native said.
Lindy isn't surprised to hear about the Harts renovating an old apartment into a new, showcase downtown home.
"The land costs are low and you can put the extras into the finishes," he said.
Low upfront costs and growing community amenities -- like the architecture school -- make Galt an attractive area for developers and people wanting to move there, Lindy said.
"There seems to be a new dynamism coming in. In general, there's the historic architecture of the city we're trying to include in the architecture of our building."
* * * * * * * * * *
Creating a new home for the UW school of architecture is predicted to create economic gains of $55 million to $65 million in the Cambridge economy within seven to 10 years of the school's opening.
The "forecast of associated economic benefits" is part of the application document used to secure $8.2 million in provincial and federal Superbuild money to help pay for the project.
The study also predicts 3,000 new jobs and the generation of $1.25 million in extra property taxes as the school sends ripples through the downtown and the city-wide economy.
The school's cost is $27.2 million. The property cost $1 million and renovations and furnishing $13.7 million.
The remaining $12.5 million will go into two endowment funds: $6.5 million to fund ongoing repairs and upgrades, and $6 million to pay for extra expenses related to operating a satellite campus.
City council has committed $6 million to the project over 15 years, plus another $1.4 million, mostly in waiving development fees (as occurs for any downtown development). The federal and provincial governments each contributed $4.1 million towards the project.
That leaves $11.6 million to be found in the community by the Cambridge Consortium, a private fundraising group composed of more than 40 local business leaders.
Val and Sheila O'Donovan contributed $3 million and Michael Barnstijn and Louise McCallum another $2.5 million to kick off the fundraising. There's about $2 million to go as the school readies to open, said Tom Watson, one of the consortium's founders. He's also owner of Century 21 Watson Real Estate Ltd. on Main Street.
There will likely always be a need for fundraising to support the school as it evolves, Watson said.
In return, students and faculty will make contributions to the community and local charities. Last year, for example, architecture students formed the biggest team at the YMCA's Jingle Bell Run, Watson said.
"I think the school will support the community and I hope the community will give back to the school."
Exactly how the school of architecture affects the downtown will be the subject of a study by University of Waterloo researchers, said Laurel Davies, Cambridge's core areas projects manager.
"Research studies say a school is an important part of a healthy downtown. Never has there been a study of the before and after," Davies said.
Data gathering is already underway and will continue for about a year after the school opens. The report will be part of an ongoing research partnership between Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener, looking at ways to revitalize downtowns of mid-sized cities.
Davies said a downtown's fortunes rise and fall in cycles. Galt was already on an upswing because of city efforts to prompt downtown investment, but the school of architecture will accelerate the revival, she said.
People on the streets, not in their cars, is key to a healthy downtown. The school will draw hundreds of students, teachers and visitors to Galt, which can only help the local economy, she said.
"I think the school will bring a group of people with a different attitude to urban living."
* * * * * * * * * *
Barb Boyes is looking forward to a university campus downtown, with hopes it will pump some life into her adopted hometown. The Toronto native moved to Cambridge 10 years ago, to a house off upper Main Street. She likes downtown, but wishes there was more to do there.
"To me, there is so much potential," she said.
While sipping a coffee outside the Grand Café on Queen's Square, just around the corner from workers building the school of architecture, Boyes lamented the lack of downtown attractions for active, older adults.
Don't imitate a big city downtown like Toronto. Instead, learn from a place like the Kitsilano district of Vancouver, a place she visited and fell in love with. Hiking trails along the Pacific Ocean, interesting shops and jazz clubs gives that downtown an irresistible attraction to people looking for a fun place to live or visit, she said.
Instead of spending money on converting streets to two-way traffic -- as the city did two years ago -- the city should encourage more use of the city trail system by bicyclists, who'll need places to stop, shop and eat.
She was happy to hear the city's riverside trail system will run through the rear of the school of architecture. The school's restaurant will serve the public and offer public washrooms.
Having university students in your neighbourhood gives it life. Boyes used to offer room and board for University of Toronto students.
"That's something I would do again if I had a different setup in my house," she said.
"I had fun with them. They like to debate things."
* * * * * * * * * *
Renovating old factories into new uses is nothing revolutionary. It's been done for decades in big cities like New York, where loft apartments are coveted by urban professionals.
What's different with converting the Riverside Silk Mills into the school of architecture is that the building is in a smaller city, a place where such large-scale renovations are a rarity, said Rick Haldenby, the school's director.
Four years ago, plans called for the school of architecture to move into a sparkling new architectural icon to be built on a barren former factory site along Water Street North near Simcoe Street. In hindsight, Haldenby is glad the grandiose proposal collapsed.
"I think if we had pushed ahead with that project, we wouldn't be where we are today. It wouldn't be ready."
Architecture schools often struggle with their public and academic images, Haldenby said. Should they be housed in an avant-garde showpiece of the profession, or should the building be subservient to the academic pursuits inside the walls? "One of the advantages of this building is it's not going to be out of date in 10 years. It's already almost 100 years old," Haldenby said, as sparks showered down from welders working overhead.
Moving the school south from Waterloo is a big move, but it's not the first in the school's nomadic life.
It was founded in 1967 as a part of the UW engineering school. For its first two years, architecture students had a corner of the engineering building on the Waterloo campus.
In 1967, the growing program was divorced from engineering and married to the environmental studies program. With that change, architecture moved off campus, into a nondescript industrial building at 415 Philip St. in Waterloo. By 1971, the growing program needed more space, rented in another nondescript building up the street, at 419 Philip St.
In 1981, architecture students moved back onto the Waterloo campus, into Environmental Studies Two, a utilitarian blockhouse of a building. It's hardly an inspirational home for students with plans to reshape the built world.
"Nobody would ever complain if I called this building ugly," Haldenby said during a tour of the Waterloo building. That's where students will be until mid-August, when the big move south happens.
The new school offers 84,000 square feet of space, more than triple the 25,000 square feet students are now shoehorned into. Architecture students have one floor to themselves in Waterloo, but share computer labs, the library and support services.
Graffiti adorns walls, bulletin boards and some table tops at the old school -- a practice Haldenby said will be discouraged at the new campus.
The new school is designed to offer students inspiring views of the Grand River, while faculty offices and workshops face the west Galt streetscape. The school's display areas, library and lecture hall will be open to public use. Indeed, passersby on all side will be able to peer inside the streetfront windows, watching the school in action.
More than 1,000 students apply for 75 first-year positions available at the school, Haldenby said. They're articulate young people, with probing minds who want to make a difference in the world.
As part of their learning, they'll travel the world -- including studies at the school's Rome campus - and return to their studies in Cambridge, sharing their stories and experiences.
Students in the six-year program don't take the summer off. There are student intakes in fall and winter, while graduate students return throughout the year to complete their studies.
Riverside Mills won't only be home to architecture students. It will become a touchstone for experts and decision- makers from around the world, Haldenby said. Sleepy downtown Cambridge is about to be pushed into the architectural limelight.
He's already planning a fall conference in Cambridge hosted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Also this fall, six international graduate architecture students will visit the school. Other conferences and and a public lecture series are in the works.
The school's students are also expected to be part of their community, presenting plays and exhibitions. Key to that is a 3,500-square-foot display space on the main floor, operated in partnership with the Cambridge Library and Gallery.
"It's almost impossible to predict what the effect all of this will be" on Cambridge, Haldenby said.
* * * * * * * * * *
Along with changing the social fabric of downtown, the school of architecture is likely to change how the city handles big construction projects.
The school is a city project, in co-operation with the private, fundraising consortium and the university. As soon as the project is done, ownership transfers to the university.
The project is on time and on budget, after work started at a dead run in January, said Bob Paul, Cambridge's director of facility management.
"This is incredible. I'm working with some the best people I have ever worked with." Paul has supervised major city construction projects since 1997. His first project was the twinning of the Hespeler Memorial Arena and he's been involved in every city project since.
Creating an architecture school in an old building, however, is a project unlike any he's handled before.City council went against the tradition of tendering the project as a whole, under a general contractor.Instead, Alberici Constructors was hired as a construction manager, to work with Paul and the university in overseeing the project. Each part of the project was sent out to separate tenders, which generated low bids and got work underway fast, Paul said.
Even at the brisk pace, the building won't be complete until the end of October. From the start, Paul said the plan was to complete all of the third-floor classrooms and studios and part of the second-floor work areas for the start of classes in September. Work will continue on the second-floor library and main-floor exhibition space, workshops, lecture theatre and restaurant as classes begin.
Work is proceeding about as fast as it can, Paul said. Any faster, and workers would be tripping over each other.
With a tight construction schedule, city council gave up its spending control when it hired a construction manager to work with city staff. Usually, every city construction tender needs a council vote to approve it. For this project, senior staff and the mayor were delegated the power to sign contracts, as long as tenders came at or below budget. Every tender on the project met the threshold.
"We've had 40 tenders on this project," Paul said. "That's more tenders than we usually put out in an entire year."
BACK TO TOP |
