Build architecture school on Ledo Hotel block - Gordon Drysdale

Editor’s note: This letter has been edited for length.

Market Square is best left physically as is, but new expanded and creative programs need to be developed to make the facility more useable.

The school of architecture would better be located elsewhere. The farmer’s market location is the worst one which could have been chosen, for the following reason.

It will block or impede the future connection of the CPR brownfields west of Elgin Street with the city core.

We have the motherload of real estate on the city’s doorstep (CPR brownfields) and connecting it directly to Elgin and Larch streets with an underpass will open up endless possibilities for urban growth.
The extension of Larch Street to the west and construction of an underpass at this location would not need to disrupt business, because there are almost no store fronts in the zone where construction would occur.

The new artery will assist in the calming of Elm Street traffic, and open quick access to emergency vehicles when trains are present.

Put the school on the expanded Ledo Hotel block, between Minto and Shaughnessy streets, by removing and eliminating that section of Elgin Street.

Traffic flows from Elgin Street, east, to Van Horne Street, and can be rerouted back to Elgin Street east under the Paris Street bridge, via Shaughnessy Street.

There is plenty of parking in the CPR yards, south of this block, which could be leased.

The new enlarged block footprint is more than 35,000 square feet. With three floors, that is 105,000 square feet and well beyond the 75,000 needed for the school of architecture. That is about the size of the triangular building at Tom Davies Square. Underground parking could also be designed in.

The visual impact of this new architecture, upon entering downtown via the Paris Street bridge, will be stunning, instead of the dreary same old buildings still there, or away from optimal exposure on Elm Street at Elgin.

I agree that getting people downtown is what is needed, and a high-density urban village built on the property west of the CPR tracks to Lorne Street is the way to go.

With an extension of Larch Street passing under the CPR tracks at this location, it will connect the two areas for the first time in more than 100 years and effectively remove the historical (and mental) barrier of the CPR tracks, without having to remove the tracks.

Dumas’ grocery store is also conveniently located right at hand on Lorne Street. Patronage at the farmer’s market should increase. Downtown businesses would flourish.

With some affordable rental housing in the mix, young people starting careers in the downtown core could walk to and from work, alleviating the parking problem even more. It is time to do the right thing and move our city forward.

Gordon Drysdale Greater Sudbury