By Pepper Parr
November 5th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It is almost done – close to being ready for a ribbon cutting ceremony if the Mayor is foolish enough to do any such thing on the site of where he went along with giving away a significant part of the city’s heritage. The Mayor didn’t do this all by himself – every member of Council except for Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, voted to sell the land next to the lake to the people whose property abutted land that was owned by the city and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
The potential was for a lovely little parkette that would have been a nice quiet place to enjoy the lake. The city sold a critical part of land that was owned by both the city and the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources. The patch of land to the west on Market Street was made into a Window onto the Lake – the patch of land to the east on St. Paul was also made into a Window on the Lake.
They sold the family jewels for a pittance – and put an end to a true Waterfront Trail.
It is an absolutely superb site that was sold because the city council didn’t have the foresight to keep the land and let it become a part of the Waterfront Trail.
We did get two Windows to the Lake out of it – and they are close to being ready for public use.
The Window at the foot of St. Paul is a little austere but it is better than nothing. What a great place to sit down and read a good book. Plenty of space to set out a blanket and just enjoy the view.
Resident makes the best of late afternoon sunshine in new chairs placed in one of the city’s newest Windows on the Lake.
There are two Windows, one on Market Street and the other at the foot of St. Paul.
The Window at th foot of Market street is a nice, quiet secluded area tucked in behind a small grove of trees. Great place for a quiet conversation.
Looking north to the foot of Market street the red leaves and the blue chairs are a lovely contrast.
Of the two the one at west on Market is the nicest. It is tucked into a nice small grove of trees and is a little more intimate than the one on the east side.
Had the opportunity to enjoy the new widow on the lake yesterday.
A great place not found in most city’s, makes me appreciate what we have in Burlington
Once again, Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, is the only one who seems to value Burlington’s heritage and the Waterfront Trail. What does it take for the councillors and the Mayor to understand that once our history is gone,it’s gone!
As long as the current line up of men & Blair remain on council nothing will change….(except for Taylor, he is the only one that does not blindly go along with the others).
Well he certainly went along with the others when it came to the sale of this land. Actually, he was one of the more aggressive proponents for the sale. I don’t think that he deserves any commendation.
On this file your right, no commendation, was thinking of when he sided with Marianne.
The financial transaction data – appraisals of land value, selling price, etc. – were kept secret, n’est-ce pas? In that respect it’s reminiscent of the pier, the true total cost (including legal and staff costs, etc.) of which was not made public.
That’s not the kind of city government that I thought I was voting for. It’s time for some serious changes…
I hope those nice chairs are either anchored down or chained together or they will end up either Burned,Tossed in the lake or Stolen like everything else in the parks that’s not bolted down.