Windsor City Council Approves $ 8.4 Million Streetcar Project at New Location

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The City of Windsor will proceed with the Legacy Beacon, a site for the historic No. 351 from Windsor, now in a new riverfront location near the foot of Caron Avenue.

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In a virtual meeting Monday, council members voted 7-4 in favor of the relocated project, with a price increase of $ 8.4 million.

“Remember my words: once this is built, this will be the most used destination along our waterfront on a daily basis,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens, one of the votes in favor.

Dilkens’ initial idea for an exhibition location for the restored Windsor tram dates back to the summer of 2017.

Three years later, in June 2020, the council approved Celestial Beacon – a gallery building for the streetcar and an attached deck at the foot of Askin Avenue, at a projected cost of about $ 7 million.

Controversy over how the heavenly beacon would disrupt the riverfront sight lines, and questions as to whether it was in line with the municipality’s established vision for the riverbank, forced the council and administration to reconsider the location.

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According to management, the design for Legacy Beacon remains largely the same, but the new location now places the site’s structures at or below Riverside Drive West, and no charter amendments will be required to build.

With the Legacy Beacon occupying the riverside west of the Caron Avenue Pump Station, the playground currently located there will have to be moved. But management said the playground needed to be overhauled and relocated regardless of the project.

Along with Dilkens, councilors Rino Bortolin, Chris Holt, Ed Sleiman, Jeewen Gill, Gary Kaschak and Jim Morrison voted in favor of the project.

Councilors Fred Francis, Fabio Costante, Jo-Anne Gignac and Kieran McKenzie objected.

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“I was reluctant to support this project with $ 7 million. I’m sure I’m not going to support him with $ 8.4 million, ”Ward 1 Coun said. Francis at the meeting. “I don’t think it’s a priority right now.”

Francis singled out residential flooding, road conditions, transit investments, street lighting, parks, sidewalks and bike lanes as his highest priority municipal issues.

Ward 6 Coun. Gignac said he remembers when the proposal was much simpler and had an estimated cost of just $ 750,000.

“When the project went from less than a million dollars to several million dollars, it was a concern for me,” said Gignac.

“I think we need to discuss a lot more at the council level.”

Ward 9 Coun. McKenzie said he feels that even with the relocation, the project’s design remains contrary to the City of Windsor’s Central Bank Improvement Plan, which emphasizes the importance of restricting the size and extent of buildings on the central waterfront. .

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“There is an obligation to be consistent with the direction that the previous councils proposed,” McKenzie said. “We are not restricting. We are doing the opposite. “

But Ward 3 Coun. Bortolin praised the new location, arguing that it encourages foot traffic in the city center. “A great civic offering,” he said.

Ward 4 Coun. Holt said he believes the Legacy Beacon retains a link to the city’s transportation past: Windsor was the first Canadian city to have an electric streetcar system.

“What we’re talking about now is making an investment for the public in one of the diamonds that we have,” Holt said.

The mayor compared the streetcar saga to another city attraction: Bright Lights Windsor.

“I remember the public outrage that we were spending $ 3 million on a light show,” Dilkens said. “That is now one of the most beloved festivals in the city, because they saw that what we were doing was not a rinky-dink… lights on a pole. It’s quite an experience. “