Road Allowance Work

Principles

Work within the road allowance should be designed and executed to meet modern standards of safety, amenity and convenience without detriment to the heritage character of the District. Heritage Permits are required for the installation of items such as street and pedestrian lighting, benches, tree grates, tree guards, trash receptacles, recycling bins, and parking equipment.

Nineteenth-century photographs of Collingwood show a streetscape very different from the streetscape of today. An accurate “historical reproduction” would exclude automobiles, paving, lighting, traffic lights, highway signs, parking meters, trees, and benches. It’s obvious that a busy and lively commercial district requires all of these things, some of them because they enable and enhance public use and commercial activity in the downtown core; many of them because regulations and standards govern the design of traffic systems, lighting levels, and so on. There is an inherent historical ambiguity in a Heritage District which must be dealt with in the evaluation of the design of these modern installations. The following principles apply to such an evaluation:

1. Accept the automotive streetscape: As the list of modern artifacts above shows, the automobile and its infrastructure accounts for most of the visible non-heritage installations in the District. There is a built-in division of the streetscape in its historical aspect: it is inescapably modern from curb to curb. Modern accessories like parking meters or ticket dispensers and street lighting should be place near to the curb, where they form a transition band between the heritage experience of the buildings and the modern experience of the roadway.

2. Don't accentuate non-heritage installations: Human perception is very good at filtering out unimportant and repetitive information. The modern enthusiasm for heritage has produced a host of “old-fashioned” products. Many of these are poorly executed and overly fussy. As a result, they call undeserved attention to themselves and the attention, thus directed, detects the fraud. Often, a very plain modern item will fade into the recesses of perception, and be less intrusive than a deliberately “historical” version.

3.  Maintain historical integrity: Even when they don’t represent an accurate reconstruction, it is important to choose “historical” items in the context of history. For example: the street lighting of 1890 can’t be reconstructed because there was none. The designer should bear in mind that Collingwood was a fairly wealthy and fairly small town, and ask “if a town like Collingwood HAD installed early lighting, what sort of fixtures would have been chosen?” they would have been more substantial than those in a rural village, but not so ornate as those in a New York park.

Direct Identity

The street improvements undertaken by the B.I.A. in 1980 contribute to its identity as a distinct area. The installation of consistent block sidewalk paving, lighting, planting, and street furniture creates a “sense of place” while providing a pleasant pedestrian environment. This special identity should be extended, using similar design standards in public works installations throughout the Heritage District. Additional identifying items should be considered:

-- Contrasting paving at street intersection and crosswalks
-- Plaques r engraving in sidewalk paving, on street-name signs, lighting poles, bench slats, and so on. An inexpensive way to emphasize the richness of Collingwood’s heritage would be installation of an 8” x 8” paving brick in front of each heritage building, with the name of the building or original owner, and the date of construction.

Lighting

Street and pedestrian lighting in the B.I.A. is currently in the process of redesign. Modern illumination standards combined with the great width of Hurontario Street and the presence of trees will require provision of separate systems for the street and the sidewalks. Narrower streets will not have this requirement. Luminaries should be selected to provide a “warm” colour, similar to the incandescent lighting that was the only source available at the time of original electrification. To encourage continued residential uses downtown, fixtures should be designed to minimize light spill and glare on residential occupancies. Lighting poles should be decorative, and the provision of current light pole accessories such as banner arms, and electrical and audio outlets should be continued. The addition of District identifying devices, described above, should be considered.

For Hurontario Street:

-- Roadway lighting should Be mounted at sufficient height and spacing to economically provide acceptable levels and quality of illumination. These fixtures should be mounted on arms projecting over the street, to place them in the modern vehicular zone and to place the light sources beyond the line of the tree planting. The lighting head should be selected for unobtrusiveness, rather than deliberate “heritage” quality.

-- Pedestrian lighting should be mounted at a height and spacing consistent with the pedestrian scale. Height should be limited to 12 to 14 feet. The design of the luminary and its mounting should have a heritage quality without being overly ornate or elaborate.

For Other Streets

-- Street and sidewalk lighting can be accomplished with a single system of fixtures mounted at an intermediate height. The design of the luminary should be similar to the pedestrian lighting on Hurontario Street.

For Lanes and Pathways:

-- To further the Policies for integration and use intensification of the Lanes and Pathways, lighting fixtures similar to those on the streets should be provided.

Street Furniture

The existing street furniture, with a few exceptions, conforms to Principles outlined above. Benches, trash receptacles, bollards, tree guards and tree grates were not part of the original streetscape, and most of the items that have been installed generally have a heritage quality without being overly decorated. The black colour of the metal items helps to keep them in the visual background. Two street furniture items strike a discordant note by being obviously modern: the benches and the rectangular wood-slat trash receptacles (the round metal ones are acceptable). The bench slats are formed of roughly 2x3 lumber on edge, a late 20th-century design motif. It would be more in keeping with the other street furniture to choose a cast-frame flat-slat bench in a simple but traditional design. Bench castings are available with cast-in or bolted-on lettering, which could serve as District identity markers, as described above. Tropical woods, which resist weathering in an unfinished state are available to minimize maintenance.

Planting

Although not part of the original streetscape, the B.I.A.’s 1980 tree-planting program adds to the amenity of Hurontario Street by providing summer shade, and is a major element in establishing the area’s identity. Where sidewalk space allows, the planting program should be extended throughout the district. To increase the amenity of the Lanes and Pathways, trees should be provided where space permits on public land, and encouraged on private land.

On-street parking has been an integral part of business districts since the vehicles were drawn by horses. Hurontario Street's broad width allows angle parking at the curb, and Collingwood is one of the few Ontario Towns that has maintained the arrangement. It forms a distinctive part of the town’s character, and should be maintained. The angle parking also increases the parking capacity of the curb frontage, which provides the economic benefit of increased shopping convenience.

On the other streets, parallel parking is provided. Curb-side parking creates a “buffer zone” between pedestrians and moving vehicular traffic, which is valuable in maintaining a pedestrian friendly environment. Compare the pedestrian comfort levels on Huron and Hurontario Streets.

Many buildings in the Heritage District would be worthy of individual Designation under Part IV of the Heritage Act, but the heritage character of Downtown Collingwood is more than the sum of its parts. The combined effect of large numbers of heritage buildings, most of them built in a narrow time period, creates a distinctive area with a definite “sense of place.”

Guidelines:

-- The preservation of existing heritage buildings is the most important way to preserve the character of the District. These buildings should be repaired and maintained. Demolition is discouraged.

-- Repairs and alterations should restore original features. Restoration should be based on research of documents, photographs, and inspection of site conditions.

-- Additions Alterations and new development in the District should reinforce and respect this “sense of place” and the heritage character of the streetscape by respecting the surrounding buildings in siting, architectural qualities, and landscaping.
 

The Lanes and pathways form a vital part of the public space in the District. They contribute economically by enhancing the convenience of Downtown shoppers, and they are the visual introduction to the District for people arriving from the parking lots. Currently they are under utilized as commercial frontages and largely neglected as a visual enhancement to the District.

Guidelines:

-- Repairs and maintenance to the rears of existing heritage buildings in the District should preserve or restore heritage qualities inherent in the buildings.

-- Additions, alterations, and new development facing lanes and pathways that respect the heritage character of the District are encouraged.

-- Lane entrances and lane uses, which give life to the lanes and improve their pedestrian environment, are encouraged.

-- Planting, benches, patios, privacy fencing and other amenities that improve the pedestrian environment of the lanes are encouraged. These should be designed to enhance the heritage character of the District.

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