Posted Feb 10, 2011
By Jeff Maguire

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EMC News – The Town of Carleton Place is continuing its policy of purchasing properties in the downtown area with a view to improving parking or enhancing the streetscape.

The latest acquisitions are timed to dovetail with a major improvement project planned this year for one of the main north-south thoroughfares in the central business core, Beckwith Street.

Council recently approved the purchase of properties at 19 Lake Avenue East and 12 Beckwith St. Both will be very familiar to local residents. The Lake Ave. E. property contains a building which houses both SnoWhite Coin Wash and E2 Hair Studio. The coin wash faces Lake Ave. E. while the hair studio’s address is 8 Beckwith St. The coin wash in particular is a fixture at that location.

The adjacent property at 12 Beckwith St., which contains an old house, is actually back-to-back with the Lake Ave. E. commercial structure. Both properties were owned by the same individual and the town paid a combined $250,000 for the land.

Mayor Wendy LeBlanc says the existing structures will be demolished in line with the Beckwith St. reconstruction program planned as part of this year’s capital budget. It is expected the removal of the buildings will commence in early May. Watch for a future story in the EMC with more details.

“By acquiring this land and removing the structures we can now look at widening the intersection as part of this year’s Beckwith St. project,” the mayor said in an interview last Thursday.

With the street project and landscaping work complete, the remainder of the two properties in question will be offered for sale by the town in an effort to recover some of the purchase cost.

The area involved will be the busiest construction site in the town this spring and summer. Plans are already in place to remove the former Canadian Tire Corporation store at the intersection of Lake Ave. E. and Beckwith St., directly opposite the two properties purchased by the municipality.

That structure too will be demolished and a parking lot built in its place. A portion of the property, which is officially called 7 Beckwith St., will remain in use by the Carleton Place Farmers’ Market (CPFM). An all-weather structure is also planned for the site, although not this year. Eventually it will be the home to the CPFM and other outdoor, warm weather activities.

A multi-storey, mixed use building (commercial and residential) is being considered for the north end of that expansive piece of property. Look for a separate story in the EMC outlining details of the major capital works program which will begin this spring at 7 Beckwith St.

RECONSTRUCTION

On Jan. 25 the newly elected town council, headed by Mayor LeBlanc, approved the 2011 municipal budget.

The long anticipated Beckwith St. reconstruction is the third most expensive project listed under the ‘Transportation and Environmental’ section of the town’s capital budget.

The work, which encompasses the complete reconstruction of the busy access route just east of the town’s main thoroughfare, Bridge St. will cost an estimated $655,000 to complete.

LeBlanc makes it clear the reconstruction does not include the land purchased to assist with widening the street.

“The two are separate,” she notes.

In further explaining the plan the mayor says that by purchasing the two properties and removing the existing structures the street can be widened and “proper turn lanes from Lake Ave. E. to Beckwith St.” (and vice versa) put in place.

There will also be landscaping done to enhance the boulevard with trees planted on the east side of Beckwith St. Landscaping work, including the addition of trees, is also planned as part of the separate project at 7 Beckwith St. on the west side of the artery.

“Not only will the trees improve the aesthetics but they are good for the environment as well,” the mayor stresses.

The two projects (three if you include the demolition work at 19 Lake Ave. E. and 12 Beckwith St.) is being undertaken in the same general timeframe. The plan is to minimize the length of time the busy road will be off limits to motorists and pedestrians.

The busy street provides access to the downtown commercial district with several business parking lots located on the thoroughfare along with the public library and such sites as Memorial Park, which includes the Carleton Place Cenotaph. Two places of worship, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and Zion-Memorial United Church, are also accessed via Beckwith St.

“There will be a lot of disruption,” the mayor admits. “Better to do it all at once so we can get it finished as quickly as possible.”

The scope of the Beckwith St. work is dramatic!

Besides the projects occurring at Lake Ave. E. and Beckwith, the program will include the complete reconstruction of the artery from Mill St. in the north, to Lake Ave. in the south.

Included will be upgrades to the storm sewer, replacement of the sanitary sewer and water main from Albert St. to Lake Ave. E. (approximately half the length of the street).

When the underground portion of the reconstruction is complete new curbs and gutters and sidewalks will be installed and the entire road surface replaced with fresh pavement.

The street has been in need of improvements for years. The Carleton Place Business Improvement Association (BIA), which represents more than 150 retailers and other businesses in the downtown area, has lobbied for the work for a number of years.

SEVERAL PURCHASES

Meanwhile, the purchase of the two properties on Lake Ave. E. and Beckwith St. are the latest in a number of similar moves made by Carleton Place council in recent years.

Six years ago the town purchased two commercial buildings (one had housed a tea room and the other a hair dressing salon) on the west side of Bridge St. at the north end of the Central Bridge. The old buildings, one of which was derelict, were demolished. A parkette, including a pathway and benches, was built on the land closest to the Mississippi River. Part of the site remains undeveloped.

Two years ago council authorized the purchase of a Bridge St. home, also on the west side and opposite the former Olympia Restaurant. That building was also removed.

Last summer the site, located next to a multi-use commercial building at 92 Bridge St., was added to a small municipal parking lot at the location. The larger parking lot was leveled, paved and opened late last summer.

The additional downtown parking was welcomed by merchants and the BIA which promotes markets and advocates on behalf of downtown businesses.

Although some residents have criticized the town for entering “the real estate business” many others have praised the addition of more free parking and enhanced aesthetics resulting from the removal of aging buildings.

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