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Imually, a proposal by a company called First Gulf to redevelop a huge swath of uptown Waterloo. was greeted with nearly unarimous enthusiasimn by medra, government and business elites. Upon closer scrutiny. however. questions about that proposal are becoming increasingly hard for its proponents to answer The City of Waterloo took a gutsy high stakes gamble when it purâ€" chased the old Seagram‘s Distillery property at Erb and Caroline Politicians and city officials are understandably anxious to see that this gamble pays off â€" or at least to argue that it has paid off when the facts are less than clear. The stakes of that gamble were raised considerably when First Gulf made a successful bid to buy Waterloo Town Square (with the encouragement of the city, which owns the parking lot). The future of the core is now in the hands of a single corporation from outside the area, one with no record of guiding a development of this scale. Waterloo has long had the healthiest core in Waterloo Region, far healthier than any of the three cores in Cambridge and miles abead of its counterpart in Kitchener. A strong and vibrant core in Waterâ€" loo, therefore, benefits the entire area. When considering redevelopâ€" ment of uptown, it makes sense to consider what has made it so en oc‘ M ing uptown space). Monster stores, such as Indigo Books, will be able to pay monster rents due to high volume, but they could cost us the presence of the very shops that have made uptown Waterloo so unique. With a downturn in the economy or a change in shopping pattems, head office executives won‘t hesitate to pull out. Take a trip to Kitchener‘s Market Square or King Centre (previous examples of core redevelopment} to see what 1 mean. One of the main flaws in the First oo uied ut Gulf proposal is that it appears to be counting on large national chains to fill its retail space (which will cost up to three times more than existâ€" The most outrageous part of the proposal is the idea of plunking a 12â€"screen multiplex theatre at the comer of Erb and Euchd. Whatâ€" ever the merits of such multiplexes, they are incredibly illâ€"suited for Waterloo‘s core, particularly in an area that backs on an established tesidential neighbourhood. Strangely, some of the same people who are so anxious to tear down Waterloo Town Square (cortectly pointâ€" ing out that it doesn‘t "fit"} are also some of the strongest proponents of the multplex proposal (which is an even worse "fit"}. Over a thousand people {of which 1 am one) have signed a petrâ€" tion calling for changes to the development proposal, most notably by scaling back the theatre proposal. Despite the fact that Waterloo council granted a zone change on Monday night (er, Tuesday mornâ€" ing) which effectively allows the proposal to go ahead, it‘s not too late for skeptics to play a role in shaping the future af Waterlao‘s core Given the growing opposition to the First Gulf proposal, there is bound to be an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board. The advoâ€" cates of the proposal don‘t want this to happen, so they will have an increased incentive to compromise. In other words., this debate is far from over Telephone: 886â€"2830 Fax: + 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail; _ .wehroniclie@sentiex.uct, Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario NJ 1p2 It‘s not too late OPINION ANomER VIEW successful to date In my view, it is small homegrown businesses such as Words Worth Books, The Paper Tree, OW Sports, Uptown Eyeworks, McPhail‘s, and FEars2Hear that have been the main contributor to uptown Waterloo‘s continuing health. The chain stores, like K mart (now Zellers}, Pier 1 Imports and Mark‘s Work Wearâ€" house, have come and gone, but they have little loyalty to the core and tend to migrate to the outskirts of the city on a moment‘s notice Group Publisher: Chere] McMenems Group Advertising Manager Butch Cmeve Editor: Deborah Crandall Reporters: Tim Gardner Pyb Vrhanay _Sports Editor Gerry Mattice Display Advertising Bull Karges Norma Cyca Sales Supervisor Classified: Saahira Ladha Kim Broderigk Regional Classified Manager Lynn Muchell A spate of bad air was enough to do us for the summer. And, gosh, it wasn‘t so long ago that we smirked about Los Angeles and its smog. Now our tainted air makes you appreâ€" ciate air conditioning. The only thing wrong with it is that it disassociates you from the world outside. For example, with the windows shut, you can‘t hear the birds chirping and the brakes squealing. Its like living in a cave. Still, air conditioning has to beat breathing the smog. It‘s odd, eh, to be eating a doughnut and even the hole has a taste? Way to Go: Surprise‘ Waterloo Regional councillors have voted to be a separate. elected council, and that marks a significant step on the road to rationality. As I‘ve written before, oneâ€"tier government is coming. There‘ll be steps on the way, but it‘s coming. As an example of the change in public attiâ€" tude, take the results of a survey of Cambridge C of C members. Only eight per cent favored secession from the region, compared with 37 per cent in 1997. And, hear this, 80 per cent wanted to see some action on reform. Granted, it was a C of C poll, but it mirrors the change in Cambridge attitude. The harangues of Cambridge Coun. Don Craig must be starting to ring hallow. Do away with dual citizenship, eh? Of course, we have to forgive the Cambridge folk because it‘s only recently that their community has attained any size. Before that, it was so small that when they had a boxing match, both pugilists had to sit in the same corner. Lost Chords: Waterloo council did the right thing in canâ€" celling the Sounds of Summer festival after 15 years. Given the civic austenty. the deficits and a lack of direction, council had no choice. + 1ts better it should perish now than later. Take Kitchener and its deficitâ€"ridden history with a fair. The dismal saga went on year after year of mostly flops The weather was often hlamed for the poor crowds, but decent weather didn‘t make a difference. Neither did changes in formats and dates Nothing was ever a solution, and, despite it, council kept underwnting, the annual disaster, but thenâ€"beom!‘â€"belatâ€" you should try putting R y | some of that water on your lawn ! P T "A $ § / 3 (® > ‘ ‘é\ 3 4 â€"A*3 s Y D . es Pauginon ts t P stal Rlard D P K. { “~ The XBe~ nadé= w £>»>~ eena .l n ui _,,,_'A‘\’f'?}\):"-a > Y Anow, instead of washing off your drivaway, Circulation Manager: Carolyn Anstey Circulation: ferry Fischer Maithew Hayes Cheryl McGall Production: Millie Martin Nancy Hill Keyty Miller OcE over LIGHTIY The views of our columnists are their own and represent the views of the newspaper _ aterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by edly it was struck by good sense The Sounds of Summer offered some good entertainment, and Waterloo will find something to replace it. There‘s no hurry, mind you. Say, I know it will date me, but just once more I‘d like to live again the glory of the Waterloo Band Festival. It‘d be great to watch that callithumpain parade with Prof. C.F Thieleâ€"white suit and allâ€"strutting ahead of the host band from Waterloo. What a spectacle, but, alas, one that won‘t come again. Bands have changed and tastes have changed. But 1 admire Take Vaira Vikeâ€"Freiberga, the new presiâ€" dent of Latvia. She‘s also a Canadian citizen. The list could go on and on. Fact is, Canadian citizenship has become as laughable as the security of our passports. The answer is plain: Do away with dual citizenship. Make it a conâ€" dition of Canadian citizenship that you abandon other loyalâ€" ties While we‘re about it, we should do away with hyphenation in describing Canadians. Let‘s admit that multiculturism has been destructive of our national unity. Sure, people will keep a decent regard for their homeland. but let‘s not have them venerate it on and on, yea unto the fourth generation. We‘ve seen it recently in what amounted to a nightly cheerâ€" ing section for indicated war criminal Slobbo Milosevic on Kitchener‘s King Street. This while young Canadians were fyâ€" ing against the authors of the Serb atrocities And have a happy Canada Day, ch? ‘sent the views of the newspaper coma D "3n% is (E + 2000 42002004 n International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0822 4410 The Fairway Group A division of Southam Inc the people who play in bands. In particular, 1 admire tuba players. â€" It can‘t be easy playing a tuba. After every note, you‘re tempted to say, "Excuse me." One Is Enough: There‘s quite a fuss about Conrad Black being ineligible for a Bntish title because he‘s a Canadian as well as a Briton. To give him his due, he‘s not prepared to rerect his Canadian citizenship to get the title. Sometimes you halfâ€"suspect that there‘s only a handful of us who don‘t have dual citizenâ€" ship. Theres lots who have the latter. Take Boguljub Karic, who serves in the cabâ€" inet of Slobodan Milosevic, the Butcher of Belâ€" grade. He has Canadian citizenship. This is my lawn ! Mailed subscription rates $65 yearly in Canada $90 yearly onutside Canada x 8B o not necessarty