Refocus Kodak: Themes and Ideas to Date As of May 21 2014 The Refocus Kodak Campaign has been hearing from the community since early 2014. Below are some of the themes that we have been hearing and some of the specific ideas we ve received to date. 1. Key Themes: Destination Resilience Creation of a Town Square for Mount Dennis. The site should encompass mixed use with various types of businesses, community facilities, housing, arts and culture, recreation and educational facilities. Iconic and the idea of creating a hub Design excellence should be incorporated Should be a place to connect and make residents proud of the community. Create a community that is green and sustainable. Green energy, lots of green space, green roofs, wetland/wildlife protection, urban farming and gardening as well as biking and walking trails. Have good connections from the site to the surrounding parks and ravines. Having better local transportation Create a green expo centre to showcase and incubate green technologies. Have affordable options such as affordable housing & affordable fresh foods Have accessible facilities Provide job opportunities for local residents. Promote local economic development, local businesses and use the site as a way to economically revitalize the community. Page 1 of 5
Education Innovation Celebrating History Noise Abatement Play/Recreation Seniors, Children and Youth Put educational facilities on the site. Have some sort of post-secondary institution to help bring people to the site The programming offered by this institution could be connected to themes related to the community such as photography, transit and sustainability. Other educational uses include an art school, drama school, music school, culinary school and ESL classes Showcase innovative ideas in city building Support innovation by having an innovation centre to incubate new ideas Take advantage of emerging trends in the economy such as social enterprises, sustainable technologies and the sharing economy Be proud of the history of Mount Dennis and find a way to showcase it through a museum, the installation of public art or a site design theme Highlight the community s history with photography and how Mount Dennis helped shape the old City of York. There is concern about noise from the maintenance and storage facility (MSF) such as squealing wheels and movement of the trains. Have more spaces for sports/sports fields Have more flexible open spaces for picnics, gatherings, concerts, places to relax Have more facilities for children such as nurseries, daycares and playgrounds Provide more jobs for youth and support youth businesses More facilities for seniors including meeting spaces and seniors activity centres Page 2 of 5
More Local Businesses Community Spaces Ensure that there are a good variety of business types including spaces for independent businesses, entrepreneurs, artisans and a farmer s market were discussed Ensure that there are a diversity of businesses that serve people of different backgrounds A need for more services including banks, retail, veterinary services, daycares, medical clinics and automobile services More artisan businesses Have more places to meet including cafes, restaurants and public gathering spaces. Have more open spaces and parks. Arts and culture is a major theme need to have a theatre space, cinema and a music venue. More libraries 2. Specific Ideas: Below are selected ideas from some of the earlier consultations: Business Ideas Microbrewery Small business/innovation incubators Ensuring complementary businesses with existing community businesses/industries Farmers market Supermarkets Shopping malls Plant nursery Page 3 of 5
Housing Ideas Education Town Square/Community Hub ideas Play/Recreation Ideas Artist live/work lofts Micro-homes (tiny home spaces and houses) Using recycled materials for new buildings and homes Housing for the MSF and LRT employees Transit think-tank Satellite campus for a university or college Branding Mount Dennis the Beginning of the Line since Mount Dennis station is the last stop on the Crosstown LRT End the Santa Clause Parade at the Kodak site Using creative lighting design to make bridges over Black Creek iconic Building a large indoor atrium and ensure that activities can happen year round Build high up to 50 stories and have it designed by Frank Gehry Health Centre Libraries Band stand Iconic fountain Have a shuttle bus to transport people around Zoo Soccer field Basketball court Go Kart track Water park Amusement park Picnic spaces Page 4 of 5
Recreation centre City of York Museum Photography Museum (especially in the preserved Kodak Building #9) Ice rink Wading pool Wildlife sanctuary A NHL-sized Arena or NFL-sized football station Page 5 of 5