November 9, 2011
Architect presents
marina plan
by Vance Gutzman
The Deep River marina could be in line for some extensive, and
expensive, upgrades which would dramatically transform the look of the
town's waterfront.
The municipality has, for some time now, been working with members of
the marina users group to come up with plans to replace the outdated
marina attendants hut, which Mayor David Thompson has been prone to
calling a "shack".
"It's a bit of an embarrassment for our community," he said at last
week's council meeting, just prior to introducing architect Gerry
Morris.
Morris, of Morris Thuemen architects, had been brought in by the town
this past summer to come up with plans for a new marina attendant's
hut, and, after discussions with the town and the marina users group,
has recently expanded his mandate to look at upgrading a wider swath of
the marina.
"Its one of the best resources the town has," Morris told council last
week.
"A lot of municipalities would envy you."
Morris, who was the prime architect of Deep River's town hall some 20
years ago, told council that the present marina attendant's hut (or gas
hut as he called it in his presentation) is unsuitable for a number of
reasons.
It's a poorly organized and cluttered building, he said, and its access
walkways are both unsightly and either broken or eroded away.
The old wooden shack, Morris pointed out, is an inadequate space in
which to conduct efficient work, communicates a poor corporate image to
both users and visitors alike and has no windows through which to
monitor its surroundings.
Not that those surroundings are much to look at in the first place.
The area surrounding the gas hut, Morris said is not a people-pleasing
place.
Cracked and missing asphalt at the pier, coupled with poorly-defined
boundaries and untended landscaping currently coalesces to form a
disorganized site with scattered tables, garbage containers a bulletin
board, water and piping - making it difficult to view or get near the
water to see boats in the marina basin.
Morris' solution is three-fold.
Firstly, the gas hut itself needs to be rebuilt, as per the initial
initiative.
The new gas hut the architect is proposing would combine gas sales with
retail space, VHF, a defibrillator, safety equipment and a phone.
The hut would afford high visibility of all aspects of the marina and
would be constructed out of vandal-resistant and flood-proof materials.
Not only that, it would be attractive and appealing to boot.
The second part of Morris' vision for the marina is a public gallery
that would be built adjacent to the gas hut.
Elevated slightly, and accessible by both stairs and ramps, the public
gallery would be able to accommodate approximately 20 people, offering
them a panoramic view of all aspects of the marina, and the broad vista
of the Ottawa River.
The third aspect of the architect's plan for the marina is a boardwalk
that would be built on the easterly side of the gas hut, connecting to
the yacht club and the waterfront network.
The boardwalk, Morris said, would give nods to design aspects of both
the yacht club building and the Riverbank Park.
All in all, the architect's plan was received well by members of
council and interested audience members, whose ranks included
representatives from the Yacht and Tennis Club, Riverbank Park,
Community Association and the marina users group.
But, while Morris' project would use limestone blocks for the
boardwalks, nothing is carved in stone as yet with the plans as he
presented them last week.
"The nitty-gritty has to be looked at now," he said of turning the
conceptual plans into functional blueprints.
"It's a matter of tightening up the design."
The costs, too, at this stage of the game, are somewhat fluid.
Morris ball-parked the project as coming in at $285,000, but that rough
figure could be reduced through the use of volunteers for a lot of the
labour that would be entailed.
Still, even though the cost estimates are preliminary, Deputy Mayor
Daniel Banks, while stating that he thinks the architect's design is
beautiful, asked Morris whether the plans call for the project to be
built in one fell swoop, or whether it could be done in stages.
"It is phase-able," Morris told him.
"You as council would have to weigh your priorities."
Mayor Thompson, however, does not want to take a piecemeal approach to
the project.
"My thinking is, let's just do it," Thompson said.
"It's the focal point of our community."
The architect's plans will now go back to the town's recreation
department and committee for further review, the mayor added, and the
municipality will also seek the input and knowledge of the various
people and groups who have an interest in the project.
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