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Fate of downtotreto be decided Waterloo cottncil's committee of the ating a mall on King Street was part of whole Monday night allowed itself a the long range plan tor urban renewal but month's time to study the plan for the there were particular ideas whichtheeom- urban renewal of downtown Waterloo. mittee hoped the city would implement The plan, prepared by the City of Water- over the next five years. b" Urban Renewal Committee. was giv- In order for urban renewal to be suc- en approval in principle by council com- cessful, Mrs. Hynes suggested a mimmum mittee Monday night. Further discussion allocation of $60,000 per year be set aside and a definite line of action to be taken for it by the city. will be discussed at the next committee pr meeting 0ct.29. I __. "I'm, ("ylll! The Urban Renewal Committee was _, ‘ -_ - lull. -" praised by council for its good work in _lllllIllllBMtltll& , preparing the plan for downtown Waterloo. = liii ”In itTtt' - . till) The report has received the attention of - It] “gunman“ the committee for the past year and was _ 1llllllllllE "HUI" 'Jill ‘ -i" compiled from a collection ofdbriegs adnd “II “III“ f llllllll 'llliil ideas from rivate mu s an in ivi u- -_- . . , ', ‘ , als. p g p , l!! Ili11 Milli!!! nu Mrs. M.E. Hynes, member of the committee, made the presentation of the report to council and outlined the main objectives of the plan. Mrs. Hynes said such concepts as cre- Cutting off m water service 'il'-? Those to be affected when the city shuts off the water have been notified by in- dividual letters and have been advised to fill any available water containers they may have around the house to help serve their needs for that day. Residents in a specific l7-block area in the vicinity of downtown Waterloo will be without water services, Saturday. John Michalofsky, of the city's engi- neering department, said the water was being shut off so gate valves can be in- stalled in the watermains. The area to be affected will be those people living on parts of William, Park, Euclid, Avon- dale, Dunbar, Rosalin and Alexander Streets. (Exact locations are published inside the Chronicle). Mr. Michalofsky said people are being asked to make sure their bathtubs. sinks and pails are full of water prior to the shut-off time of7 am. Service will not The purpose of installing the gate valves, according to Mr. Michalolsy, is to improve the old watermain system found in the downtown section of the city. The valves are extremely important in the event of a break in the watermain. LOf the 12-15 watermain breaks ex- rienced in Waterloo each year, Mr. Michalofsky said four or five are very ser- ious. Severe breaks he said can upheave pavement and sidewalks can fall into the hole created. T be restored until until after 4 pan. He said toilets can still beoperated manually by pouring water in the hack. _ This will of course be a great incon- venience to the residents." Mr. Michalof- sky said, "But the planned inconvenience now will avoid any unexpected in- convenience in the future.." Residents in other areas near the 17 blocks will likely experience some rust in their water Mr, Michalofsky said. When the watermain in the one area is shut down he said. the direction of flow in nearby watermains is changed causing turbulance which stirs up the small pieces of lining which has chipped off the in- side of the main He emphasized how- ever that the colored water is not harm- ful, Without valve gates. the water cannot be shut-off in the area of the break. For example, if. there was a break in the area scheduled for shut down, the whole 17 blocks would immediately be without water-without warning. With the tate valves, only two or three blocks would have to go without water while the break is being repaired. "fIlglrlr4ltll)f), crhill"lrhlllttilrl'.lli'; 118TH YEAR NO. 39 An artist's conception of how the cement pad in Waterloo Square could should be able tn give look after urban renewal. own.. N o elevator for adult centre In order for urban renewal to be suc- cessful, Mrs. Hynes suggested a minimum allocation of $60,000 per year be set aside for it by the city. The main feature of the second floor is a large meeting room which will seat 320 people. Mr. Pflug said this mom would be used mainly for civic activities such as public meetings and hockey banquets. Ctmmtsstoner of finance, D.C. Schaefer, told council it was important that there be little delay concerning the project. Tenders on the building should be called Nov. 1 with construction starting Dec. I. The bulk of the work has to be finished by May 31 in order to be able to take the fullest advantage of the grants the city will be receiving under the winter works program. Council committee agreed with the basic layout of the building. The building is sit- uated on the front half of the property with parking for 50 cars located in the rear. The main drop-off entrance is also in the rear to avoid cars stopping in front on King Street. There are two crafts rooms on the main floor as well as a games room, kitch- em reading room, meeting mom and a large room which will seat about 120 peo- ple: Community services director, Ken Pflug. said the large room would be used mainly for senior citizen's activities'. Preliminary plans for the new $300,000 adult recreation centre on King Street were given approval by council's commit- tee of the whole Monday night. Whether or not a partial basement will be included in the building and a shaft for later installation of an elevator will be decided at the next meeting of council Oct.' 8. Basic approval had to he given this week so architects Snider, Huget and March could carry on with their plans. Accessibility of the second floor to all people became the centre of debate as Ald. Epp was determined in his argument that there should be an elevator in the building. A modest price tag of $25.000 was put on the installation of an elevator. Ald. Mary Jane Mewhinney wondered if such a cost would be added over and above the $300,000 or if other features the WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1973 building would have to be cut back. She said she would not like to see the physical appearance suffer. _ _ . _ _ (he of the concerns of the committee for the downtown dealt with the large con- crete areas, which Mrs. Hynes said, serve " barriers to pedestrians. She said a course of action would be to "soften the concrete apron in front of Waterloo Square by landscaping and possibly putting a canopy near the restaurant there. An outdoor cafe or beer garden in Council members voted against Aid. Epp's request for an elevator and said it was not necessary at this time since the senior citizen's activities would be kepton the main floor. Maggie Little (left) and Sue Birrell, both of Waterloo, have no easy job in scheduling 125 women as Oktoberfest hostesses. For story and additional photo see page 6 . A motion was passed however to get an WATERLOO, ONTARIO . estimate on the cost of putting a shaft into the building for possible installation of an elevator another time. A price will also be given at the next meeting on the cost of putting in a partial basement to be used for storage. Special accommodations were in- cluded in the initial drawings for use of the building by people in wheelchairs. this area would be an attractive feature." To further cut down on what the com- mittee feels is a negative feeling from the large amounts of pavement in the down- town, the report suggested the existing green area now in the Square parking lot be extended on the Square side. The on-street parking on both sides of King Street in this area could be removed and the sidewalk widened with land- scaping added to facilitate pedestrian movement across King Street. Margaret Kerr-Lawson, of the down- town residents association, asked for a definite answer on when council would start a secondary plan for the downtown residential district. Ald. Kominek repeat- ed there was "no comment." Ald. Bob Henry said that When council sits to discuss the matter Oct. 29 the mem- bers should come with definite ideas of their own and be prepared to decide on a line of action. He said rather than ask the Urban Renewal Committee what they intend to do with the money, council should be able to give suggestions of their The discussion period which followed Mrs. Hynes' presentation of the report indicated some residents were worried council would not take action on the re- port soon. Ald. Rudy Kominek, council’s repre- sentative on the Urban Renewal Commit- tee, said council had not had enough time to digest the facts and "the best comment would be no comment at this time." l 3, 700 copies delivered by carrier to every household in WA T ERLOO PRICE 10 CENTS