McDiarmid Complex greenspace plans unveiled
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2015 (3943 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Plans are in the works to transform a drab downtown parking lot into a beautiful, usable greenspace complete with a sloping green, community garden and a deck area.
The proposed plan for the vacant lot, located on the east side of the A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex was presented to the public during an open house on Monday.
“It’s always exciting when we can take a piece of asphalt and reclaim it for greenspace for people,” said Perry Roque, director of community services.
Roque explained the sloping green will add some interesting landscaping to the area, and can be used for children’s programming or to watch a movie projected on the building wall.
“It would be a nice gathering spot for people to gather and sit, and relax on the ground,” Roque said.
Several citizens stopped in to check out the plans, including Doris, who did not wish to disclose her last name. She said she was in support of the plan.
“Anything would be an improvement,” she said. “They need something to certainly spruce it up, that’s for sure. Some trees would be nice.”
As the lot is just outside the city’s Cultural Resource Centre, the goal is to incorporate the outdoor space with the different programs offered.
“Kids can learn how to grow food, how to harvest the food and then they’d learn how to prepare the food as well, it could all tie in,” Roque said, of the community garden component.
The deck area would be slightly raised off the ground and would provide an “outdoor café feel”, and could be used as a performance stage.
The city hired Winnipeg-based Architecture49 to draft the preliminary design for the area.
Landscape architect Bhavana Bonde is no stranger to Brandon. She worked on the courtyard for the Western Manitoba Cancer Centre.
“As a landscape architect, I really like Brandon as a town,” she said. “I think in terms of planning for greenspaces, they’re very ahead.”
The plan still needs approval from city council, but once a contract is awarded, the construction is expected to take two months, Bonde said. As it is still in the preliminary stage, a cost estimated was not available.
The goal is to have the project completed within the next year.
» jaustin@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @jillianaustin