THUNDER BAY — Newly unveiled designs for a post-Victoriaville future grabbed eyeballs and generated enthusiasm at an open house this week.
Around 100 people dropped by the event held Wednesday at the mall, which is slated for demolition next year.
The open house offered a close look at a preferred design for a reopened Victoria Avenue, and a new pedestrian boulevard along Syndicate Avenue, which will remain closed to vehicular traffic in the former Victoriaville area.
City council voted in 2020 to tear down the mall, which was built in 1980 and had been plagued with vacancies and financial losses in recent years.
The rebuild, expected to come with a price tag of over $10 million, is the centrepiece of city plans to revitalize the south core and spur more housing and business development.
The design for the pedestrian boulevard is divided into three main sections.
A “central lawn” just south of Victoria Avenue would feature timber benches and planters, a canopy of overhead lights, and public art or a water feature.
South of the central lawn, leading toward the Victoriaville parkade and Donald Street, a “civic centre plaza” would feature trees, a renovated Victoriaville Civic Centre entry, granite benches, and a performance and play space.
North of Victoria Avenue, leading to Justice Avenue and the Thunder Bay Courthouse, a “north garden” is planned with flower beds and large trees, as well as dedicated patio space, where planners have suggested the city consider seeking an outdoor liquor license.
Along the reopened Victoria Avenue, the plan envisions parking on the south side, and a widened sidewalk on the north side to support patios and sidewalk displays for abutting businesses.
The design, which still requires city council approval, also includes large planters that could be moved to close Victoria for street events.
Resident Sam Piche, who regularly visits her grandmother in the area, expressed enthusiasm over those concepts at the open house.
“I think it’s a really well thought-out design,” she said. “Right now this area has a really bad reputation, and it would be nice to revitalize it to bring in more people.”
Piche is a fan of the pedestrian boulevard and patio space, something she said is lacking in the city. She’s also optimistic the revamp could bring an economic boost.
“People who are going to catch the bus, maybe they’ll stop and have a lunch here, if there’s a nice space,” she said. “I think that would help the area a lot.”
“Right now, there are some nice restaurants here, but there’s not a lot of draw for people to go to them. I think having that patio space in the summertime, it might even help bring some tourism … and we do have a lot of great stuff in this area.”
Area resident Sandra Livingston was also eager to drop by the open house and see the proposed design for herself.
“I think it’s really exciting, and I like what they’re planning on doing,” she said. “I hope it really takes place, because I think it’s long overdue.”
“There hasn’t been any improvements or businesses opening, and I think this may get people interested in coming down and setting up shop.”
Coun. Brian Hamilton, whose McKellar Ward encompasses the mall, said he'd heard largely positive feedback.
“This is the product of a lot of consultation, a lot of studies, and hopefully we’re coming out the other side with the best product possible for the community,” he said.
“There’s going to be a lot of potential. The downtown south core is where Thunder Bay works — there are a thousand or more employees down here each and every day, and I think that’s going to drive economic development.”
Hamilton has cautioned the Victoriaville project is just one piece in what he sees as a years-long process of renewal for the south core.
The city is weighing other strategies to achieve that vision through a downtown Fort William renewal plan meant to support more housing and business development in the core.
Stephen Margarit, a member of the committee guiding that work, said only one per cent of Thunder Bay’s population currently lives in downtown Fort William.
“Reopening Victoria Avenue is what we consider the catalyst to getting people down here, and then really helping to spur getting more people to live down here,” he said.
Insp. Derek West, an officer with the Thunder Bay Police Service's community outreach branch, was involved in providing police feedback on public safety considerations for the design.
He said demolishing the mall will bring safety benefits thanks to increased traffic through the area and improved sight-lines, and welcomed design elements like the raised pedestrian crossing.
"By opening the area, it makes it more visible," he said."The idea is that people would be able to see what I call undesirable behaviour, or behaviour that might cause someone concern."
The loss of the mall could also come with tradeoffs, however, according to a 2020 report considering whether to demolish the structure.
The report concluded the mall’s closure would negatively impact the homeless and other vulnerable populations who have for years used it as a gathering space.
City staff have previously said elements like public washrooms and cooling features would help address the issue, but the preferred design makes no mention of washrooms.
Victoriaville is slated for demolition - which will involve a piece-by-piece dismantling - in 2024, with construction of Victoria Avenue and the Syndicate boulevard in 2025.
With files from Vasilios Belos, TBT News, and Sheri Leviski-Kotyk, CKPR Radio.
