Windsor City Council has asked administration to prepare a report on possible opportunities when it comes to combining three key projects along the city's waterfront.
Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac made a motion Monday for the report to explore possible alternatives, pointing out that these are three very big, very long lasting projects.
The projects in question are the proposed canopy at Festival Plaza, the Celestial Beacon project and the proposed Civic Esplanade project on the former city hall land.
A $32.5-million proposal calls for a massive canopy to built at the Festival Plaza along the riverfront, with a permanent dome structure with a capacity of 5,000 people.
Gignac with regard to the renovations to the Festival Plaza, she says it's important to reflect on past work by committees and present alternatives to council.
"Here's the highest project component we could add down there and the cost of it, as well as some other opportunities that might not have as much of a pop effect, but it would accomplish the same thing," she says.
City administration is currently recommending the Celestial Beacon, which would house a restored street car from 1918, be combined with the new Legacy Beacon on Riverside Drive near Caron Avenue.
The estimated price tag for the project would be over $8-million.
Gignac says these projects will have an impact on our community for a very long time.
"There's some wisdom in reviewing it from the lens of, ok, is there an opportunity to perhaps placing the infrastructure and even the street car in the City Hall Plaza?," she says.
Gignac says everything that we do along the riverfront has an opportunity to draw people downtown and make use of amenities.
"It's an exercise I think we should not take in bits and pieces but have an opportunity to talk about all three of them together," she adds.
Administration is expected to come back with a report at a future council meeting.
The proposed Civic Esplanade project includes the former city hall property and developing it to connect to the riverfront.