Is It Really Ours?

After my initial post on the Tree Lighting I was struck by the wide range of experiences and opinion on both the event and the new square.

There is neither right or wrong in terms of the views expressed and on the positive side, stripping away everything, is an incredible passion for the community.

I would however like to offer some insight and perspective on why the experiences and opinions covered such a wide range from a “wonderful event” to kick off the season to a “complete epic fail”

I believe the existence of the square and the event occurred in a context of time, design, location and community experience.

In order to move forward and the Square to evolve and assume its expected and designed role as a focal point in the community (we, the Town) will need to deal with some challenges.

There is a sector of urban planning which deals with a concept called cognitive geography. In the simplest of terms it is about how people relate to space, urban or natural and how people’s behaviour and the design of that space interact. It is how they see, experience and interact with the physical components of their community or neighbourhood.

Planners describe three types of spaces, first, is home, second is work and everything else is the Third Space.

Examples of Third Spaces include parks, libraries, recreation facilities and other public buildings. These are spaces are owned by the public and play an important role in community interaction, socialization, activity. They are an anchor to the liveability and vibrancy of the community.

Within Third Spaces there is another group who are equally important to livability and vibrancy. These are spaces that are privately owned or in some cases institutionally owned; but are where the community gathers, lives, celebrates and interacts. Examples include restaurants, coffee shops, a hair salon or barbershop, a place of worship, a social club like the Legion and in some cases retail, such as a grocery store or deli.

The line between public and private is somewhat blurred in this group of Third Places, as the public gathers (the walking group at a large table in the coffee shop), but the rules are set by the private owner.

While Bronte has some excellent public Third Spaces, the Waterfront Park, the Beach and Trails; it is beginning to lose some of that important private third places, particularly restaurants, coffee shops and retail business. Other Third Spaces with important roles in Bronte include the Churches, Legion and the existing Waterfront Centre.

Space communicates to the public how welcoming it is, its use, rules and time. This can be everything from activities taking place, to signage on what you can and can’t do, down to seating.

As we all know, the Muskoka Chairs at the Waterfront Park have taken on an iconic and defining role and clearly communicate the role of the park and welcomes people.

Part of space design is a well defined entrance, one that beckons, welcomes and most important starts the process of communicating the role of the space and its function. The entrance communicates you have arrived. Again using the Waterfront Park; If you drive down Nelson Street there is the main entrance. You can see the park, play ground, marina building and the boats. The second is at Jones Street, again, you see the gazebo, the Sail Stage, the Park, Marina, pier and lots of seating. Even secondary entrances tell you have arrived and that you are entering something different than the street. It also communicates that this is for the public.

The new “Town Square” is a Third Place, however its role is unclear. To the average person it. looks like a continuation of the development, design, materials, and location all communicate it is part of the development.

While it is now called the Market Square, its function as of yet is not fully communicated.

the existence of the Muskoka Chairs, suggests it is public like the park and the first event, the Tree Lighting is a first experience for most people to even be on the site.

On the other hand there is no sense of entrance or welcoming. The setting does not communicate function and visually, even with the Tree; it could very well be seen as something the building owner put up its location set to one side close to the existing retail . If you think of the square downtown, the Tree is in the centre as is a stage when used for other events. The same with the new tree at the Library. The Tree is a focal point.

As I said, the new Market Square exists in a context of time, location and design. Most recently, the visual image of this site was a space that was fenced off, for no real apparent reason you could assess strolling by or in your car. It looked finished, but that it was part of the development site. Everything on the ground floor of the building was vacant (no shops, restaurants store those some up for lease signs could be seen). As a result, the communication had already started that this was private, or would be outdoor space for the ground floor uses..

The last few years has seen an impact of change on Third Spaces in Bronte. As long as Triller Square and the Bronte Village Mall existed (over 40 years) they were Third Spaces. The public gathered and interacted, the common areas of the old Village Mall saw people meet for a coffee, there was the restaurant and grocery store. There was the common area of the mall for walkers.

The same for Triller Square. That feeling of a Third Space extended to the parking lots for both sites. It was not uncommon for people to shop at Food City, leave the car and cross the street to Denningers for something special. Or maybe you rented a movie at the old Blockbuster before walking down to the harbour for an ice cream.

There was an unwritten contract, like going into Starbucks for a coffee and pulling out your laptop do answer some emails. The parking was seen as a Third Party space and shopping at one of the businesses and then walking across the street or to the harbour was part of the unwritten contract. The parking lots functioned as a Third Space.

That has now changed; the parking angst of Bronte is now sadly one of the things that defines the community. It is now engrained as part of the Third Space communication: be careful where you park. While the Town was done as much as they can legally; the reality is the Third Space in regard to those two sites has changed, there is a new contract.

The new Square is visually and physically part of that new Third Space. The past experience related to parking, whether we like it or not, is an inherited communication and identity of the new Town Square. That can clearly be seen in the comment provided in the Bronte FB group telling how they arrived for the Tree Lighting, only to be visually greeted by a Security Guard from Farm Boy making sure no one was parking in their lot.

Returning to the comments on social media, there were questions and very strong opinions that the Christmas Tree lighting and event should be at the Waterfront Park.

Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park is now 25 years old. It has become part of the fabric of the community. It is engrained in daily life and peoples lives. One only has to look at the range of family celebrations from births, to engagements to weddings the the mourning of love ones and the celebration of lives lived.

The Park was central to residents and visitors getting through the pandemic and where the thousands gather enjoy music under the Sail. When the gazebo was first proposed and built, one of its stated purposes what in fact community celebrations such as the Tree Lighting.

Most importantly, if you look on the plaque for the Waterfront Promenade named after Bill Hills, it states for the enjoyment of ALL the people. I think it is a fair statement, the community as a whole sees the Waterfront Park as being their Third Space and that in a way is the heart and soul of Bronte.

This raises a fundamental question. What is the role of the Market Square, functionally and in terms as a focal point for the community?

Lets go back a few months

The space was built by the developer, looks feels and is really a blended look of the whole development. When people commented on Social Media it was about the fencing, trees in bad shape, there was not a sense of ownership. Most importantly there was no vision of what the space could be, its purpose and most importantly, the owner.

The limited information, was that negotiations were underway with the developer. Then the fences came down, the terminology “Market Square” surface, some Muskoka Chairs appeared and the tree lighting was announced.

There are a few very basic and fundamental questions that need to be answered, despite a search of the Town's website, official announcements or even comments on FB groups.

Whose space is it?. Is this now Town owned land? Or is there an agreement? Are there terms, conditions, limitations?

Can anyone use it?

Are there restrictions? For example could there be a farmers market, or the periodic Craft Market held and the Walton moved to this site? Could food trucks be part of an event?

What about music, noise, celebration, what happens if there are complaints from the residents?

What happens to the square when business finally moves into the ground flow, such as a restaurant, coffee shop or offices?

As the public sees it and experiences the space, is this the final look? What can be done to make it a more welcoming and functional space?

Most importantly, what is the role of this space in the community compared to the Waterfront Park?

The Bronte BIA has done an amazing job supporting the community and sponsoring events like Canada Day. Yet, it is also fair to say the Bronte BIA is the smallest in Oakville, fewest number of businesses (particularly retail and restaurants/food related. The pandemic has been particularly hard on businesses, the parking issues has created significant marketing challenges. Critically, retail and restaurant space is being lost as redevelopment occurs.

We should not be surprised the BIA has had to reduce its involvement in community events at the same time it is appreciated our Councillors, were able to step in and organize this annual event.

Going back to the Facebook posts, while there were differences of experience and opinions (including those which were quite pointed) if you step back everyone has a passion and a commitment to the community. Many of those even with the most frank assessments were willing to step up to the plate and help organized future Tree Lightings and events.

This speaks to a harsh reality. The cornerstone, backstop for events and activities in downtown Oakville and now Kerr Street has and continues to be the BIAs. Bronte is different and faces some massive challenges to preserve the Third Space vibrancy and grow it for the future.

It will be important for the residents to become part of the process of planning and delivering events like the Tree Lighting. However, there needs to be spaces, support and a clear understanding of what can and can't be done.

To that end it would be helpful if our Councillors would take the lead in organizing a community meeting to answer some of the questions posed above and begin the process of community roots baed events such as Lake Notes that really would not have occurred without the leadership and efforts of Mike Cuttle.