Ward 9: Vision + Concept + Reality: Community Center + Library + School

 

Solution:

Build Shared Community Center & Library with enhanced digital library in Ward 9 in collaboration with public & private entities thereby leveraging existing infrastructures and shared model for operating costs.

 

Problem Statement:

Ward 9 is the largest ward in Windsor city. Its residents have been asking for a Community Center and Library. Till now, the City has not been able to provide the facility.

 

My proposal is to deliver the missing Community Centre and Library services, relatively faster and in a cost-effective way to Ward 9.

 

My vision and concept development to date is to co-locate a Community Centre and Library with the Talbot Trail public school on Ducharme (part of the Windsor-Essex Count District School Board). The reasons are:

1. Talbot School is running out of space. The School has put six portables to accommodate the students and this problem is going to become worse, as more houses are getting built in that area. Even today the kids have to walk in cold in winter to use the washroom/toilet/bathroom.  It is, therefore, expected that the School Board may expand the school infrastructure. to fix the situation. It provides an opportunity for the City Council to collaborate with the School Board so that the architecture of the expansion work is done in such manner that it can be easily used for dual purpose ie. as the school and as well as a community center. Similarly, the school library may be re-designed so that it may be used as the School’s library as well as a public library. If the expansion is architected with dual use in consideration, operating costs will be reduced with the optimal use.

 

1. Walker-gate of Ward 9 is one of the fastest growing areas in population in the city. Also, Walker-Gate is farthest away from the rest of the city facilities on Dominion Street and Downtown Windsor.

 

With additional research I discovered and investigated similar initiatives (for example at Ottawa Carleton) that other communities have undertaken. The advantage of such a solution is that the facility can be operationalized without much of a delay. Moreover, since there is a need to provide such facilities to families at reasonable, if not walk-able distances, for large wards like Ward 9, this facility may be replicated  at another School also.

 

I have also proposed that the City’s library facility may be upgraded by providing a digital library lending facility. Google has digitized hundreds of thousands of classical books. New digital books are available today from publishers. Such a facility can be particularly convenient for seniors and handicapped persons, who may not be able to travel easily.  

 

Advantages

 

There are many advantages to the integrated Library + Community Centre + School approach - both intrinsically and when compared to other ideas lacking in vision and practicality. Key advantages of my concept include:

 

• Shared infrastructure - the Library and Community Centre would be able to leverage the school's existing sewage, water, electrical services, parking lot, entrances/exits, fencing, snow plowing etc. These services may need to be expanded but all-new services construction could largely be avoided. This saves money, reduces construction duration, and therefore reduces disruption to the site's neighbors. Additionally, access-control (locking / unlocking doors) to the community resources could be shared alleviating current limitations in convenience and practicality of renting such resources.

 

• Convenience and ease-of-use: With these 3 key community resources located together residents will be able to access more resources with less travel and less time. The concept fosters efficient use by people within the Library, Community Centre, and School ecosystem as well. The demographics of Walker-gate is it combination of both senior and young population which can be easily verified by visiting the Talbot Trail Captain park.

 

• Located Near the Residents drives Usage: The Talbot Trail site is embedded within the community it will serve. It is relatively easy for many kids and adults to walk, bike, bus or drive to the location. This is in sharp contrast to the other 2 ideas which are 'outside' high density residential neighborhood areas.

 

• Traffic, Safety and Ease of Access: The 2 other sites are bordered by major roads with major safety and traffic barriers to access and use. This reduces usage right off the top. It is true that Ducharme and Talbot Trail's existing parking lot are extremely busy at times. The  peak periods are specifically between 8:30a-9:20a and 2:45p-4:15p. A community center and library's typical usage pattern are outside these peaks, making the combination a very efficient planning pairing. Further - on weekends - a peak time for community center use - there is often little or no existing traffic at the school, representing another gain in efficiency.

 

• It addresses the issue raised by Paul Synnott – Ref https://www.facebook.com/630435423/posts/10160944922920424/ -  of $400 million dollar infrastructure deficit, which includes an $80 million dollar repair deficit on our social housing, ….. Windsor can not afford to be dropping $10 million let alone $30 to $40 million for a new main library at this point …. Windsor closed a much needed library in Remington Park and Seminole survived by the skin of it's teeth. We need to stop removing resources from our neighborhoods like Remington Park or the community center on College Avenue in favor of Mayor's ego legacy projects;

 

• This idea can be further expanded use schools buildings in other areas for community and school libraries as public libraries thereby using the existing public resources more effectively.  The shared services idea can be further expanded to make it easier for residents to locate community resources and make more efficient use of public and private resources above and beyond schools such as:

• libraries

• churches

• clubs (Caboto, Cicaro etc)

• service organizations (Legion, Rotary)

• banquet halls

• athletic centers / Gyms

• Hotels and Motels

 

Windsor Community Resource Finder

 

The Windsor Community Resource Finder provides a method to locate and book community resources (rooms etc) from across the many different buildings in the City including the resources listed above - all from a single computer, phone, or tablet. The idea capitalizes on finding and using underutilized rooms and resources that otherwise go unused. The system also makes things easier for residents, saving them money and time. This cross-resource booking capability may also contribute to reducing unnecessary new construction capital costs and recurring operating costs.

 

 

A VISION for WARD 9

Community Centre + Library

 

Alex Aggarwal, Candidate for Councillor, Ward 9, City of Windsor

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