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Waterloo Chronicle | Thursday, May 18, 2023 | 4 With the purchase of —any 5 fresh meals. — C-103 95 King St S. L Uptown Waterloo _ tly) macrofoods.-www.macrofoods.ca Valid until May 31st, 2023. Waterloo store location only. waterloochronicle.ca NEWS REVITALIZATION IN UPTOWN WATERLOO It's nota lure, but uptown Waterloo is fi- nally getting a full-time loo. The prefab structure featuring auto- mated cleaning technology will be in place later this year on the heritage green at the corner of King and William streets that's recently seen some upgrades, including new pavement, Plantings and colourful metal tables and chail We applied for a My Main Street grant and we got $100,000 to be able to do some stuff," said Uptown Waterloo BIA execu- tive director Tracy Van Kalsbeek, who said the city- owned aproperty was underutilized and needed The city ‘ateacy had plans in place to revamp area; the federal funding helped fast. track some of the work, she oe 'S Interesting how it all came togeth- ," she said. " ed to the city and thought, "We can. eda gardens, we can add seating, we can fix the falling retaining walls around the trees there. Let's put up string lights. Let's get electricity to the space so that we can and A federal grant from the Canada Com- munity Revitalization Fund is helping to pay for the washroom. Site preparation was s completed last year. ording to city officials, ihe design thats ceurrently being fi clude anti-graffiti and anti are en. fen. tures as well as mural artwork on the exte- rior. By fall, people should be able to loaf about and linger without any urgency fo go. The heritage green will eventually co! nect with a new civic comm Bill Jackson/Metroland Uptown Waterloo BIA executive director Tracy Van Kalsbeek, pictured on the new seating on the city's heritage green, with a recent award for placemaking from the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association. Dorset Street, will be closed to car traffic allowing local businesses to once again ex- pand their seating capacities. The city's patio program that was en- hanced to aid businesses during the pan- demic continues to see new participants with support from the BIA. People can ex- pect to see more pop-up patios outside businesses such as Midnight Snack and Words Worth Books — part of what Van Kalsbeek calls a revived look along King Street, between William Street and Willis , with recent ‘mer He 88 Steakhouse nearing completion. One local business has applied tohosta street pai summer to celebrate an anniversary, Van Kalsbeek not sted. “All these things would never have come to us before, but now that we've been doing it for a couple of years, people are saying 'Let's just do it." In 2021, the BIA enlisted the help of local artists and architectural consultants to create a public space on Princess Street with interactive installations, street mu- rals and seating. The second iteration in 2022 by local designer Amy Esplen, titled The SLATS, added artistic seating along with trees and shrubs. The project was recognized earlier this year by the Ontario Business Impro jon area on. property to the east off William Street, where a former ‘was locat ed. Peoplecan expect to see bike racks a ed, along with more plantings, landscap- ing and benches i in the weeks and months ead. "We're putting in what we call the up- town heart — a bench that is shaped like a heart in commemoration of our 50th anni- versary," Van Kalsbeek said. "So that's coming this summer as well." The permanent placemaking improve- ments underway at the gateway to the city's core are happening concurrently with the long-awaited water feature and shade improvements in Waterloo Public Savane an ‘ing this Sine and running tnoveh "Thanksgi Dominion Lane and Princess Street, ir from King Street to ment Area Association (OBIAA) and is be. connect with patio seating at the Loloan Lobe Bar this season. The BIA's Thursday night markets will return to the Waterloo Public Library parking lot this summer. The city- run Open Streets Festival on June 10 will temporarily close Willis Way to traffic, with a variety of other pop-up events planned in the public square throughout spring and summer months. "It's not one big overall thing. It's a lot of great smaller things that create a vibrant place that people want to come and visit,” Van Kalsbeek said. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Place- making improvements are underway in uptown Waterloo, and the Chronicle talked to the BIA to learn more.