The City of Windsor has been provided with a master plan to bring life to what is essentially its town square.
Windsor City Council heard a presentation at its meeting Monday afternoon on possibilities for City Hall Square and the Esplanade, an area of open spaces dotted with historical markers and monuments proclaiming key moments in local and Canadian history.
The proposal was approved by councillors, with Fred Francis being the only dissenter.
The area runs roughly between City Hall and the Riverfront Festival Plaza, alongside Caesars Windsor and including Charles Clark Square.
The study area for the Windsor Civic Esplanade project. Image courtesy WindsorCivicEsplanade.ca.
The undertaking was performed by Glos Architects and FORREC. It was the culmination of a series of public engagements that took place in-person, online, and through social media. There were five focus groups within the City, plus 14 external groups which included the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA), the Windsor International Film Festival, and the Essex County Black Research Society.
Three options, or themes, were considered. The first was called River Flow, which emphasizes water and its connection to Windsor and included a rain garden and a combined skate park and playground in Charles Clark Square. The second was called Matrix Garden, which focused on green space.
The third option, which was recommended to City Council, is called "Light the Path", which would feature beacons and sentinels discussing key moments in the region's history, two large gathering areas, a space for food trucks, and other features.
A master plan for the recreation of City Hall Square and the Civic Esplanade. Image courtesy WindsorCityEspalanade.ca.
The cost estimate for the project is $37-million, which is already figured into the City's ten-year capital budget.
The greenspace north of City Hall was the site of the previous City Hall, operational between 1956 and 2017. It was torn down in 2019.
The complete plan can be found on the project's official website.