The City of Stratford will apply for $90,000 through the federal government’s My Main Street Community Activator program to build a small stage and seating area for 60 people in the parkland across Veterans Drive from the historic bandshell on Lake Victoria.
To accommodate smaller outdoor events without the need to close a portion of Veterans Drive east of Waterloo Street South, the City of Stratford will apply for $90,000 in federal funding to build a small stage and seating area in the parkland between Veterans Drive and Cobourg Street.
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Councilors voted unanimously at Monday’s meeting to have city staff apply for grant funding through the My Main Street Community Activator program to cover the entire cost of the proposed project.
In a council report, Quin Malott, the city’s parks manager, said staff would work with Destination Stratford, investStratford, Stratford’s accessibility advisory committee and the board of park management to design and construct a ground-level stage and a seating area for 60 people on the south side of Veterans Drive, directly across from the historic bandshell.
As the seating area would be designed so people can watch events and performances on the bandshell stage, Malott said in his report that having a smaller stage on the same side of the road as the seating area would allow smaller events and performances to proceed without the need for council to approve a road closure for that section of Veterans Drive.
“Is part of the plan to allow for accessibility access to that area – perhaps maybe off of Cobourg (Street) and the parking area?” count. Kathy Vassilakos asked. “It just occurs to me that there will need to be some allowances for that.”
While Stratford community services director David St. Louis said the design would require the sign-off of the city’s accessibility advisory committee, Coun. Bonnie Henderson, a longtime member of that committee, noted its members had previously looked at installing accessible curb cuts along that section of Cobourg Street before determining the slope leading into the parkland was too steep.
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“The accessibility committee got a curb cut put in several years ago when we were still having the garlic festival and things like that, but it’s down on (Veterans Drive) so it’s safer for people in wheelchairs to cross at the bandshell and into the grass area,” Henderson said.
“We decided at the time not to do it up where the parking (on Cobourg) is because there’s too much of a slope and it’s too dangerous.”
count. Cody Sebben also raised concerns about pedestrians crossing Veterans Drive at the bandshell to get to the proposed seating area, especially if the road is to remain open during smaller events.
Malott’s report noted funding for the project, if approved, would cover the entire $90,000 cost of design and construction so would have no immediate impact on this year’s tax levy. However, as the proposed stage and seating area would be built using concrete, the report indicated there may be some annual maintenance costs after 10 years.
Should the project go ahead, Malott also suggested that council begin putting away between $2,500 and $5,000 annually, beginning in 2023, to cover the cost of replacing the stage and seating when they reach the end of their useful life 20 to 40 years from the time they’re built.
In addition to giving staff the green light to apply for funding, council also included the project in council’s 2022 budget deliberations and gave staff authority to put the project out for tender if funding is received.