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Lower Level Parking Lot

The document discusses 11 development proposals that were considered for the lower level parking lot in downtown St. Catharines but never came to fruition. This includes plans for a twin pad hockey arena, volleyball courts, a replica Welland Canal, a shopping mall, student residence, small lake and vineyard, hotel and observation tower, large arena and concert hall, Ministry of Transportation headquarters, a YMCA, and a baseball stadium. However, none of these proposals moved past the initial planning stages.

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Grant LaFleche
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2K views1 page

Lower Level Parking Lot

The document discusses 11 development proposals that were considered for the lower level parking lot in downtown St. Catharines but never came to fruition. This includes plans for a twin pad hockey arena, volleyball courts, a replica Welland Canal, a shopping mall, student residence, small lake and vineyard, hotel and observation tower, large arena and concert hall, Ministry of Transportation headquarters, a YMCA, and a baseball stadium. However, none of these proposals moved past the initial planning stages.

Uploaded by

Grant LaFleche
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BUILD YOUR OWN ST.

CATHARINES
YOURE THE STAR OF THE CITY!
CHOOSE FROM 11 POSSIBLE CONSTRUCTIONS.

LOWER-LEVEL
PARKING LOT

Twin pad
hockey
arena:
A private
company gives council a
conceptual design that includes
a twin-pad arena, restaurants,
fitness centre and concession
area, along with a residential
development geared towards
seniors, a wine museum and a
hotel in February 1999.

Beach volleyball:
A volleyball
league set up
15 courts in the
valley but was
kicked out by the
city after its inaugural 2004 season
to make way for a
sewage retention
tank, which was
never built.

Replica Welland
Canal: The downtown association
came up with a
proposal in April
1999 for a historic
park wrapped
nd Canal
around a rebuilt section of the Wella
bridge, an
with cobblestone paths, a small draw
a turnreplic
al
sever
and
tre
ithea
amph
or
outdo
.
ships
of-the-century

Discount shopping mall:


Another group of Toronto
developers came up with
plans for a shopping mall,
convention centre, office
building and condominium complex but bowed
out in July 1990.

Student
residence:
Hamilton developers presented
a $25-million
plan for a student
residence in
May 2003 which
would house up
to 600 students.

ILLUSTRATED BY BRAD DEMERS

The downtowns
that almost were
The lower level parking lot
behind St. Paul Street was the
focus of numerous development
schemes over the decades.
The site of the Old Welland
Canal, which was land-filled,
had potential to be a gateway to
the city but didnt see any real

Small lake and


vineyard: A team
of architects
brought in by the
downtown association in April 1981
called for a hotel and convention
centre, two 100,000 square foot office
and residential buildings, a farmer's
market, a wine
industry display
centre, model
vineyard and a
small lake.

Hotel, observation tower and


trout pond: Developers unveiled
plans for a $200-million hotel,
convention centre, shopping mall,
observation tower, recreation
complex and trout pond in
November 1988. Less than a year
later, the plans fell apart.

activity until city council decided to build a spectator facility


in 2011.
Here are some of the proposals
which didnt see the light of
day presented in no particular
order just like the options in a
choose-your-own adventure.

Large arena and concert


hall: Preliminary work
was done by the city in
January 1984 on the idea
of a new 8,000-seat arena
which could turn into a
12,000-seat concert hall.

Ministry of Transportation headquarters: The Ontario government


announced plans in July 1990 to
move 1,400 jobs from Toronto to
downtown St. Catharines, targeting
the lower level lot. It ultimately
chose another downtown site for
its new building in
May 1992.

YMCA: The YMCA wanted to


build a new $9.5-million facility
for its 3,900 members in the lower
level but the city wouldnt free up
the land in case the MTO wanted
it for its new building. The Y gave
up in October 1990 and moved to
the Fairview Mall area.
Baseball stadium: St. Catharines
Stompers pitch a 3,000-seat outdoor
stadium in the lower level parking
lot at no cost to taxpayers in 1997.
Council turned it down.

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