by Markus Philipp
Annual General Meeting Feb. 13, 2014!
New Rangers/ANA Partnership
Kitchener Rangers and ANA announce Partnership and celebrate $25,000 cheque at Centre Ice
by the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
The Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club is proud to announce that they have partnered with the Auditorium Neighbourhood Association to erect a new Community Pavilion in the recently-rejuvenated Knollwood Park.
The 2015 Centennial Pavilion Project will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our extraordinary neighbourhood, in the park located directly across from the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
‘‘We want to turn our park back into a harmonious greenspace that invites neighbours to spend time outside together to meet, talk, play, eat and enjoy,“ said Melanie Toolsie, the ANA project manager.
‘‘The new pavilion will provide a meeting point, a place to rest for seniors, a shelter from the elements for the youth teams playing in the park, and a picnic spot for families on the weekend. The Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club is committed to this neighbourhood and when the ANA approached them, they did not hesitate a minute to help us with this endeavor.”
The Rangers and the ANA will each contribute $25,000 to the project, which aims to be completed and inaugurated in Autumn 2014. The pavilion will be designed by local architect David Thompson to reflect the architectural esthetics of the neighbourhood, and will be built in cooperation with the City of Kitchener.
“The Rangers are extremely proud to be a part of this Pavilion project” said Craig Campbell, President of the Rangers Board of Directors.
“Our proximity to the park and historical ties to the neighbourhood made our decision to support this project very easy and the donation of funds to the project ensured that the pavilion would see completion quickly. We recognize the value of this close knit neighbourhood and want to continue our strong relationship with the Association.”
Last call for ANA ski trip
by Markus Philipp
Ski fans in the Hood,
Brian has organized the traditional ANA ski day at Alpine Ski Club (beside Blue Mtn up in Collingwood area) for Friday January 17, 2014 which is an elementary PD day.
The price is $70 per adult and $60 per student (and $39 for 4 to 6 olds)
The price includes:
* lift ticket
* free group lesson in the morning (either beginner lesson or a intermediate lesson)
* afternoon fun race (two races down a easy ski race course – match & win > most consistent wins! not the fastest)
No need to pay in advance. You pay when you get to the club! You tell them you are with the ANA (Auditorium Neighbourhood Association Group). Feel free to invite friends and amigos.
And if you do not want to ski … They also offer a $20 snow shoe package which include a ride up the big chairlift to the trails at the top of the escarpment.
If you are interested then please email brian.laube@rogers.com
They would like me to tell them the approximate numbers of people attending.
Here is Alpine ski club website for more details about their club and facilities
http://www.alpineskiclub.com/
They have a great ski hill with varied terrain. 500+ feet of vertical. 120 acres of skiing and snowboarding. several lifts include a high speed 6-pack.
49 new trees in Knollwood Park
by Markus Philipp
The 2013 tasks of the Park Rejuvenation have been succesfully completed last week with the planting of 49 new trees from a budget of $ 25,0000. Naturally they are not making a big visual splash at this time of the year but we can look forward to a very different park with a shady, tree lined, avenue-like trail winding through the greenspace, connecting bordering streets with the school, the sports fields and the playground.
We are especially excited to have a varity of beautiful large stature trees installed: 25 Sugar Maples, 16 London Plane Trees and 8 Tulip Trees will be complementing the existing mature Lindens, Pines, Norway and Silver Maples.
Each tree will be individually supplied with a 100 Liter watering bag next year to ensure a healthy root growth in the critical first two years. Watering has been contracted for two years to make sure that this investment will turn into a leafy canopy in summer and a display of colours in fall.
In 2014 the next steps will be taken to design, tender and build the Community Pavilion, close the tree gaps along East and Stirling Avenues and secure the East/Stirling Ave. park corner against people driivng their cars into the park.
The plane trees (picture below) are located behind the backstop of the ball diamond and on both sides of the central trail mixed with sugar maples.
The London plane is a large deciduous tree growing 20–30 m (66–98 ft), exceptionally over 40 m (131 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 3 m (10 ft) or more in circumference. The bark is usually pale grey-green, smooth and exfoliating. The leaves are thick and stiff-textured, broad, palmately lobed, superficially maple-like, the leaf blade 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long and 12–25 cm (5–10 in) broad, with a petiole 3–10 cm (1–4 in) long. It is one of the predominant park and boulevard trees in many European cities including London and Paris.
The tulip trees are planted in a row on the west side of the soccer field and in the triangle towards the school.
The tulip tree is the Western Hemisphere representative of the two-species genus Liriodendron, and the tallest eastern hardwood. It is native to eastern North America from Southern Ontario and Illinois eastward across southern New England. It can grow to more than 50 m (165 feet) in virgin cove forests of the Appalachian Mountains, often with no limbs until it reaches 25–30 m (80–100 feet) in height, making it a very valuable timber tree. It is fast-growing, without the common problems of weak wood strength and short lifespan often seen in fast-growing species. The flowers are pale green or yellow (rarely white), with an orange band on the tepals; they yield large quantities of nectar.
Your neighbourhood Gastropub is here!
by Markus Philipp
Your neighbourhood Gastropub is here!
Get ready for a new food and drink experience! Gastropub No. 29 is a unique pub-bistro blend, where handcrafted classics, reinvented pub fare and craft beer meet a warm, casual atmosphere. Sounds awesome, right? It gets better. Gastropub No. 29 is a place for you to recharge, share the evening with someone special, fuel the family and talk hockey – before or after the game. Is there a better place to kick back and relax? We don’t think so. So stop by, and see for yourself.
Lunch & Dinner
Tuesday – Sunday
120 Ottawa St. N.
eat@gastropubno29.com
519.745.0029
Savour the date. We can’t wait to see you there!
PS. Want to get the latest Gastropub No. 29 news? Be sure to add eat@gastropubno29.com to your address book.
ANA wins two Festival of Neighbourhood Awards
by Markus Philipp
The Auditorium Neighbourhood received two awards at Sunday’s FESTIVAL OF NEIGHBOURHOODS Finale at City Hall.
Our Knollwood Park Rejuvenation and Fundraising Campaing reveived the INCLUSION AWARD 2013, sponsored by the Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region. This award wanted to recognize our efforts with establishing the trail, the pavilion and the berm to make the park more accesible, safe and attractive to diverse groups, for example in ability, age, culture, economic level and identity.
Waddlefest received the SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD AWARD; sponsored by Swanson’s Home hardware Building Centre for creating an event with the purpose of building a stronger, safer neighbourhood by encouraging community engagement and participation.
Knollwood Park Pavilion Fundraising Campaign
Together with the City of Kitchener, we want to celebrate the centennial of this extraordinary community with the revitalization of Knollwood Park. The plan will turn our park into a harmonious greenspace that invites neighbours to spend Time outside together to meet, talk, play, eat and enjoy, thus strenghtening bonds between individuals and groups which characterize the cohesion and vitality of this community.
The City of Kitchener has allocated close to $100,000 to a Knollwood Park Revitalization! Work started in July 2013 to build a new trail system with benches and new trees, upgrade the playground and modernize the sports fields.
Let’s build a pavilion!
The ANA is committed to a fundraising campaign to build a pavilion in the park.
In conjunction with the Park makeover, the Auditorium Neighbourhood Association is fundraising to build a Community Pavilion where neighbours can meet, kids can take shelter from a storm during play and our seniors can find shade on a walk.
The City of Kitchener is working with us to help us achieve our goal. It will provide tax receipts for your generous donations.
Exciting Results at Halftime
We are excited that the generousity of our community members beats all our expectations. At halftime we are approaching 80% of our target. The Kitchener Rangers ($25,000) are so far the biggest contributor, but we also raised $ 10,000 from neighbours. Some families have made very generous donations, but there are allso dozens of small donations which we value all the same. Our favourite story so far is that of the Lompart boys Wes and Kegan plus James Sweeney who have worked all summer edging front yards in the hood and donated 50% of their income to the campaign! Well done and special thanks to the boys.
Now we need you to help us cross the finish line—Consider making this YOUR CHOICE FOR DONATIONS in 2013!
The Fundraising Budget
The ANA has pledged existing funds of $13,000, including a Grant from the Festival of Neighbourhoods. The Kitchener Rangers have contributed $25,000. We aim to raise $20,000 from the community of neighbours and businesses.
How to give
Tax receipts for $20 or more from the City of Kitchener. Please make cheques payable to the Auditorium Neighbourhood Association (ANA) (Cheques over $500 payable to the City of Kitchener)
Send all cheques to:
Auditorium Neighbourhood Association (c/o Markus Philipp)
172 Lydia St.
Kitchener ON, N2H 1W1
Tel: 519-571-9081
Park Revitalization Project 2013
Follwing the demolition of the old Hydro Substation (aka The Clubhouse ) in Knollwood Park at the corner of Stirling and East Avenues the ANA lobbied with the City of Kitchener to direct some attention and funding to our community park which had been largly neglected for approx. 40 years and had become a mere grassy wasteland. With the support of our Councillor Dan Glenn-Graham we had an initial round-table meeting between the ANA board and City of Kitchener representatives in spring 2012 in which we agreed that the Dept. of Park Development under Glen Hummel would take a park revitalisation proposal the City Council the next year.
With this committment, The City and the ANA invited the East Village community to a park-walkabout to collect ideas and identify problems. City Landscape Architect Mark Parris and our District Community Services Facilitator Abbie Grafstein compiled a list of all ideas which was shared with the community.
On Sept. 10, 2012, the Auditorium Neighbourhood Association, in partnership with the City of Kitchener, presented a series of conceptual plans designed to improve the existing open space. Based on input received from the community, a preferred concept plan was generated reflecting the consensus of priorities of the community.
In January 2013, the City of Kitchener allocated $100,000 to the Knollwood Park Revitalization. A new trail and a playground extension have since been completed; a modernization of the sportsfields, a berm along East Ave. and the allocation of new trees and benches are in progress. In conjunction with the Park makeover, we are fundraising to build a pavilion where neighbours can meet, kids can take shelter from a storm during play and our seniors can find shade on a walk. The City of Kitchener is working with us to help us achieve our goal and will provide tax receipts for your generous donations.
Here is an overview of the construction scheduling
- Trail construction and baseball diamond relocation (completed)
- Playground expansion (completed)
- Construction of a berm along East Ave. (Fall 2013)
- Tree planting and Benches( Fall 2013)
- Reconstruction of Stirling Ave. (2014)
- Proposed construction of the pavilion by the ANA (2014)
Parking Situation after Aud expansion
by James Howe
I’ve been helping the Auditorium Neighbourhood Association deal with the issue of Auditorium parking especially in relation to the latest expansion. My involvement included presenting to City Council on behalf of the ANA its response to the plan for parking and transportation to the expanded Aud.
The plan for 2013-14
The plan for transportation to the Auditorium and parking is similar to what happened last year after the expansion. It includes:
- Rangers Express – I’m told an impressive 11,500 people last year rode a special bus from area restaurants to and from the Auditorium. This year there are 10 participating locations including one in New Hamburg. This program has been a huge success and much quicker than I anticipated. (Rangers games only).
- Free GRT rides – The free bus ride program started last October is back and in place for the first game. Tickets are available at the Aud’s box office.
- Car pool – The car pool lot was an instant success last year. But even the lot is full, car pooling is still a great way to get to the Auditorium.
- Reserved Paid parking – Season’s passes for preferred parking are available from the Rangers.
- Free parking – The Auditorium has several large free parking lots but when the building is at capacity you need to arrive early if you want a space and avoid searching for a space on local residential streets–possibly risking a parking infraction. Thirty-five new spaces have been identified off site.
Starting to add up!
These efforts are starting to add up. With 968 seats added last year that meant potentially 372 more vehicles using stats from a parking study. The good news is that there are not that many new vehicles.
Here’s how:
- 11,500 rides on the Rangers Express for 34 home games and 5 playoff games is an average of 295 per game. Divided by the consultant’s finding of 2.3 people per vehicle, that saves 128 spots per game.
- The car pool lot reduced parking needs by at least 92 spots.
- On site parking for fans has increased by 35 spots due to the use by staff of off site parking.
- The free GRT rides were considered successful but it’s not clear how many were used.
So the new parking and transportation options mean that 255 or more vehicles have been diverted from parking on residential streets.
The city and the Rangers have delivered what they promised. Congratulations to the both organizations for that significant achievement. It required a concerted effort and plenty of work.
Let’s take it over the top!
I had hoped to see more changes this year so that we’d be back at 2012 demand for on street parking–and ideally reduce it further.
Here are possible changes the Aud could consider:
- More dedicated car pool parking spaces with an increase in the minimum occupancy from 3 to 4.
- Have paid parking on all the onsite lots for a modest $5 or $10 (with funds split between charities and subsidizing/promoting transportation alternatives).
- Instead of having car pool lots, let vehicles with 4 or more people park for free.
- Have at least one downtown KItchener restaurant or bar participate in the Rangers Express program
- Make it easier for people to use the free GRT rides for fans who attend the occasional game.
- A shuttle from/to the downtown Kitchener bus terminal with a stop at Ottawa/Charles for iXpress transfers
A combination of these ideas could mean fewer vehicles looking for parking than before the expansion.
How to respond to parking problems
Call bylaw enforcement at 519-741-2330 to report parking problems especially those requiring immediate attention,
If it’s a regular problem, I’d suggest it’s best to call Paul Pickard, Manager of the Aud: 519-741-2200 x 5262
Frederick St. access ramps to new Hw. 7
by James Howe
Big changes are coming to the Frederick Street on and off ramps to the Conestoga expressway which are frequently used by Auditorium Neighbourhood Association residents.
The changes are a result of the new highway 7 which like it or not, the new highway 7 route appears to be a sure thing.
Victoria Street will no longer be part of highway 7 when the new route is built. Instead the new highway will connect to the expressway near Wellington Street where it currently ends near Riverbend Drive and Shirley Avenue.
If you heard that the current Frederick Street ramps will all be closed or just those on one side, you’ll be happy to learn that neither is happening.
Here’s what to expect
Two ramps are disappearing (one for either direction) but there are some other changes planned that compensate for them.
The plans also include two new “connection” roads from where Edna ends at Victoria over to Wellington and from where Bruce ends at Victoria over to Wellington. Those connection roads are essentially extensions of Edna and Bruce. They mean that the “lost” ramps are replaced by ones at Wellington that you should find relatively accessible.
The Ministry of Transportation confirms that there will be two-way traffic on both of these “connection” roads. That fact means the ramps on Wellington Street are conveniently only a short drive away and essentially respects existing patterns for getting on and off the Conestoga Expressway.
What will be the impact?
So it appears to be a best case scenario for the changes to our expressway access but we’ll want to monitor the situation—especially for impact to our neighbourhood.
The City has recently completed its transportation master plan and took the new highway 7 into account. It doesn’t expect any need to change Lancaster Street between Victoria and Krug. Time will tell.
The Region is updating its transportation master plan in part to account for the new highway 7. What is decided could affect our streets so we’ll want to take advantage for opportunities to review the updated plans and give impact.
Auditorium Neighbourhood Association 