Unlike the City of Brantford where they’ve recently voted to demolish 40 heritage buildings in their historic downtown core, the Town of Collingwood has increasingly shown it’s respect for our heritage assets. 

On February 8th, council passed its first Heritage Tax Relief By-law.  Under this program, owners of significant heritage buildings can apply for a 10% refund on the municipal and education levy portions of their tax bill.  The Town has already identified qualifying properties and owners of these will be sent a notice advising them of this opportunity.

Collingwood also has another program that makes heritage grants available for the repair and restoration of heritage features of a building with funding of 50% up to a maximum of $3,000.00.

Both of these programs encourage heritage property owners to restore and maintain the heritage values of their buildings now and into the future.  As heritage is now very much recognized as having economic and environmental benefits, these programs make good sense to me.

Increasingly, we’ve seen a trend toward heritage preservation and restoration in Collingwood and I suspect much of this is due to the excellent work of both the Heritage Advisory Committee and the local branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.  The controversial demolition of a landmark building a few years ago, brought the issue to the public forefront and heritage became a substantial issue during the last election campaign.  In recent years, we’ve seen more buildings designated as heritage buildings such as the old Connaught School/wellness centre on Napier Street.

There are a number of examples through-out the town of major heritage projects such as the one now taking place at the old “Ditson” house beside the Royal Bank on Hurontario Street.  The Joseph Lawrence house renovation was truly a labour of love and learning for the owners as was a smaller restoration project at 282 Ontario Street.  Perhaps the most prominent example though would be the outstanding restoration taking place of the Tremont Building beside the new library at Simcoe and St., Paul Streets.  The added layers of siding and paint have been removed to reveal the original brick work and architectural features.  Windows were replaced and resized to the original ones and, the roof top parapets and 8 chimneys have been rebuilt.  I think this project, more than any other, has taught us a big lesson about what IS possible and why it matters.  Even those who called for the building to be demolished are now it’s greatest enthusiasts.

Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, Collingwood and Blue Mountain played host to the likes of Margaret Atwood, Dennis Lee and Irving Layton during the Great Canadian Poetry Festival.  This area has a rich cultural history that is quickly gaining new prominence.  We have become a mini-mecca for artists, poets, playwrights, actors and authors.  It’s another reason why the Collingwood area is such a great place in which to live.

Words have always held a certain fascination to me.  They are such powerful little things.  They can inspire awe or anger.  They record our history.  They can bring about conflict or they can bring understanding.  Dialects and accents tell us secrets.  Songs can move us to tears.

In celebration of WORDS, Collingwood will play host to WORDSTOCK; A Collingwood Literary Festival to be held on September 10-11, 2010.  The event will also celebrate and showcase the beautiful new Collingwood Public Library which is set to open in the next couple of months.  As the first LEED Gold standard library in Ontario (and second in Canada), the new facility is one that inspires pride and excitement.  At the same time, Collingwood is undertaking a $10 million revitalization project in our beautiful downtown; the first to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  There is much to celebrate.

WORDSTOCK is being organized by a steering committee made up of local people co-chaired by yours truly and, in partnership with Downtown Collingwood, The Town of Collingwood and the Collingwood Public Library.  The event will kick off on the Friday evening with a stunning show featuring a blend of story-telling, art, song, poetry and theatre.  On Saturday, there will be about 30 events including workshops, poetry, readings by national and local authors plus fun and creative events for children and teens.

What started out as a tiny idea has grown into a true celebration of Collingwood’s amenities and it’s cultural heritage.  In true Collingwood style, I’m sure this is destined to become a signature event in the years to come.

You have an opportunity this Sunday, January 24th to be part of something very special right here in Collingwood.

An exciting line-up of local musicians are donating their time to put on The Haitian Hearts Relief Concert at Fairways on Balsam St/Highway 26 (in the plaza opposite Canadian Tire) from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. as an event to raise funds for disaster relief in Haiti.

The event has very quickly been put together by Fran and Anna Lee Webster who are two of the most generous and positive people I know.  In such a short time, they, together with Frank McNulty of JBJ Productions, have secured at least seven local bands and I’ll bet that number grows by Sunday.  John Nichols from the Peak fm radio station has agreed to host and the folks at Fairways have generously agreed to donate the space.  The Rotary Club of Collingwood will be on hand to handle receipt of donations.

So far, the line-up includes Fran and Anna Lee, The Webster family, the Funky Truths, Wayne Buttery and the Groove project, Aaron Garner, the Fig Leaf Jazz band, Lemon Pepper Pickerel, Frankie and the Favourites and Georgia Fox.

Admission is just $10.00 with 100% of the proceeds going to the relief fund.  There may also be a silent auction and all donations will be gratefully accepted.  I’ve also just heard that profits from food and drink sales that day will also be donated.  Wow.  Collingwood has heart.

Come and enjoy.  Listen to the music, dance, feel the energy.  I’ll be there on Sunday and hope to see you too.

UPDATE:  The event was a HUGE success with over $20,000 raised!  Monies are being directed through the Rotary Club to Shelter Box  Check out the concert video on You Tube

It sure does.  More on that is a moment.

This is a historic week for the world with the Conference on Climate change taking place in Copenhagen.  It’s fitting then to share two little tidbits with you today that I thought you might find interesting regarding local initiatives in the Collingwood area.

Last Friday, a group gathered at the Library to sign a petition on the “Climate Wall” followed by a vigil and walk to the local MP’s office in support of the 350.org target for “acceptable” levels of carbon emissions.  I found the messages inspiring and in particular, was engaged by the young folks in the crowd as well as by the very interesting discussions that occurred.

 There is another upcoming event that may be of interest to you.  On January 6th, the Environment Network and Riversides are presenting a 2 hour seminar called:  “From Toilet to Tap.”  It will be held at the Wastewater Treatment Plant located at 3 Birch St north of First and will include a tour of the facility and a seminar on ways to reduce the volume of polluted urban stormwater runoff the reaches our taps.

I heard at the vigil that a Transition Town group is forming in the area.  Since reading The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to local resilience, I’ve been fascinated by these and am excited to hear we will have one here.  Stay tuned as it develops further.

Last year, November brought over 100 cms of snow.  This year?  Less than 1 cm.  Can we make up for lost time?

The snow finally arrived over night and as I type this (1:15 pm), the snow is still softly falling.  Here’s a quick snap I took this morning of Pine Street in Collingwood.

According to news reports, Blue Mountain is hoping to have both day and night skiing open by December 17th.  Snow conditions are currently limited but the runs are taking shape and form.  You can find up-to-the-minute ski condition reports anytime on Blue Mountain Resort’s website.

UPDATE (DEC 11th):  As a result of all the snow in the last few days, Blue will now open tomorrow from 9:00am till 4:30pm with Silver Bullet chair and Easy Rider magic carpet.

The Shipyards project in Collingwood was the winner of the Canadian Urban Institute’s 2009 CUI Brownie Awards (sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.) announced this week at a gala in Vancouver.
 
Named as the of “Best Large-Scale Project”  in the country, this waterfront development and was praised for its environmentally friendly initiatives  including the enhancement of an extensive wetland habitat along the shores of a harbour built with 100% recycled concrete and rock – and the creation of pedestrian and bike-only trails.

Developers FRAM Building Group and Slokker Real Estate deserve this recognition.  They took a former brownfield site and have turned it into an exciting, mixed-use residential/commercial community on our waterfront.  They have spent four years cleaning up the land that was contaminated by over 100 years of shipbuilding.  When completed, the project will feature approximately 600 apartment and townhome condominiums as well as commercial space extending Collingwood’s downtown to the waterfront.

One of the things I have liked most about these developers is their respect for the history of the site.  Shipbuilding was the heart and soul of Collingwood for over a century.  FRAM and Slokker took pains to involve the public in its planning and design process including focus groups and public meetings.  They honoured the site by the very choice of name – The Shipyards. The site will include significant amounts of green space through trails, wetlands with a fish habitat, an outdoor amphitheatre, parkland and public access to the waterfront.  It will also feature other amenities such as a new public square, boat-docking facilities and the incorporation of public art and historical artifacts in the public space.

Both construction of residential units and sales are well underway with first occupancies already in place at the site.  The sales office offers state of the art, interactive site plan information which you can play with online if you wish to get an idea of the plans available.

It’s been a long, long journey for The Shipyards to begin a second life in Collingwood.  I do believe it will be a jewel on the Great Lakes and a model for development that we will take pride in for many years to come.  My congratulations to the FRAM/Slokker team for winning this award – it is well deserved.

The power went out again a few days ago.  Apparently it was the result of a car hitting a pole.  Again.  Either we have the world’s worst drivers around here or, our infrastructure is ultra sensitive because really, the power seems to go out far too easily.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think our electricity provider in Collingwood and area, COLLUS, is doing an outstanding job on almost every level and of course, they can only work with the infrastructure they have.  So it was with interest that I stumbled across this notice  today.  It says that, “Hydro One will be investing approximately $8 million in infrastructure improvements between Blue Mountain and Stayner this fall, as part of its overall plan to increase capacity to the Southern Georgian Bay area. The upgrades will benefit the Towns of Collingwood and Blue Mountain, and expand capacity for the entire region, including the area’s ski areas.”

That sounds good to me. I’ve noticed in the last few years that more and more homes are installing back-up generators of one kind or another. One of the main reasons is to keep sump pumps operational and to avoid potential basement flooding when the power goes out which more often than not, coincides with heavy wet weather.  As the population continues to grow and as weather patterns become increasingly fierce, any infrastructure improvements are welcome indeed.

When was the last time you saw someone spinning wool?

On Saturday, October 10th, you can do just that as a dozen or so spinners create yarns like magic in a front porch demo during the Grand Opening of the Grey Heron Wool Shop located at 66 Pine Street in downtown Collingwood.

It was my pleasure to work with proprietor Karin Farmillo is relocating her business to this location a couple of months ago.  Karin is a dynamo full of positive energy and exciting ideas making her a very welcome addition to Collingwood’s business community.  Grey Herons is both a natural clothing store and an all-natural wool shop.  They carry gorgeous and unique clothing in size 12-24 as well as accessories such Amber jewellery,  hand-painted silk scarves, Irish wool walking socks, Danish felt slippers, and a Grey Heron hand knit accessory line.

The new wool shop feature has already proven to be a huge hit as knitting classes, clubs and knit cafes are filling up fast and her product lines are already in high demand.

The “Duelling Spinners” will work their craft all day on the 10th.  See you there.

If you haven’t gotten your Blue Mountain ski pass yet, do it this month while they are still on sale.  You can order online and save a good chunk of change if you do it before the end of this month.

Is the snow really coming soon?  Sigh.

When you live in a growing community, there are SO many things happening SO fast that it’s hard to keep up.

Every day, something happens that I think, “Oh, blog readers would be interested in knowing about this” yet it’s impossible to well, keep up!  Lately, I’ve written a fair bit about happenings downtown and here we are yet again.  More news.

Recently, Collingwood council approved a $7.1 million dollar downtown revitalization plan with costs to be shared by the Federal , Provincial and Municipal levels of government ($2 million each) and the BIA ($1 million).  The project will involve upgrading the sidewalks, parking and curbing, new light standards and also amenities such as trees, planters and benches.  Work will commence shortly.

My first reaction to the news was that we have a beautiful downtown and really don’t need to spend that kind of money on this.  After viewing the presentation however, I changed my mind and see the merits and need for such a project.  Certain elements are overdue for replacement or repair and need to be done.  The cost of those alone likely come close to what we’ll pay for the entire project now thanks to the contributions being made by the other levels of government and the BIA.

Have a look at the slide presentation showing the plan and see if you feel the same way. 

I think Collingwood will cement its reputation as being one of the most beautiful downtowns in the country when this project is complete.