Our Corner Garden
In 2009 an old 2 storey, brick triplex on the north-west corner of Centre and Bridge was purchased by the Town and demolished. The building, while historic, was, as architects say, not the best example of its type. It sat right on the street lines of both streets and obstructed traffic sight lines. It’s loss was not mourned by many.
The County created a widened turn lane which greatly improved traffic flow at the intersection. Centre St south of Isabella has become a bottleneck and traffic in this area is congested at certain times. Most school buses still use Graham St which causes major backups at bus time. Traffic flow on Centre St could easily be improved by diverting traffic to Bridge St at certain times of day but this has not happened. The County is studying traffic flows on Centre this year (again) and, hopefully, that option will be considered. See: Our County for more information on The Centre St Bottleneck
Between 2012 and 2015 the site was transformed into a small park now called “Corner Garden”. The design of the park was done by restoration architect, Hans Honegger, of bon eco design in Tamworth. There are a number of large blocks of limestone arranged in a curving pattern with a metal fence along the property lines which will eventually be covered with vines. A good share of the the cost was contributed by the Chamber of Commerce, BIA, and local businesses and the landscaping was done by volunteers with assistance of Town staff. The park is to be entered in the Communities in Bloom competition in 2015.
See Chamber Presentation to Council May 28, 2013 for pictures taken before construction.
See Napanee Guide – Corner Garden nearly complete June 4, 2015 for story and picture.
See Communities in Bloom for pictures of this and other beautification projects in Town.
The design of the park is curious, perhaps too avant-garde to be appreciated by all. It was nick-named Stonehenge in its early days but the name didn’t stick which is probably a good thing. It is a definite asset to the downtown and the Town in general.
The community involvement in this and other projects is heart-warming and is part of what makes Napanee a wonderful place to call home.
The south-east corner is a vacant lot, formerly a service station, one of 6 brownfield sites in the downtown which nobody dares touch. The south-east corner could benefit from similar treatment.
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Hubert Hogle 532-3672
hogles2@yahoo.ca
Dennis Mills 354-6375
d.smills@sympatico.ca
Arthur Ronald 354-4291
brodick1960@gmail.com
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