Why Victoria's Plan for the Ship Point Lots is Likely Doomed
In the twenty-three years I have lived in Victoria, perhaps the single most often discussed urban planning initiative has been the parking lots running along the eastern shore of the harbour north from Ship Point. The question most newcomers to the city ask is:
How how could what seem to be the most valuable pieces of property in the city, with the best views, still be parking lots?
This question is even more puzzling now with more then a dozen cranes in and around downtown Victoria, how could there be nothing better to do with these lots than park cars?
The answer actually says a lot about how Victoria has been shaped over the last forty years. In the late 1960's, with a thought of rejuvenating the downtown area, which at that time had become desolate and run down, a proposal was made to build a series of high-rises on the northern portion of the lots. This was known as the Reid Centre plan. Just as New York City has the touchstone of the Lower Manhattan Expressway that was defeated in a large part due to Jane Jacobs, Victoria has the Reid Centre proposal. While the fight took a few years, by the mid 1970's the Reid Proposal was dead. Going forward until now almost any new proposal in the downtown would have to fight the ghost of the Reid Centre and the theoretical damage it would have wrought on downtown. The power of this ghost has ensured that nothing could be built on these lots up to even now.
Every few years the City brings together a collection of notable citizens to bang out a new plan. Full site plans have been drawn up by Franc d'Ambrosio, Paul Merrick and Arthur Erickson. Countless articles over the years have suggested planning for a performing arts venue, a maritime museum and a public market. Nothing has ever gone past a preliminary design stage. The book Unbuilt Victoria by Dorothy Mindenhall, has an amazing chapter with some great drawings of the various plans for the lots which is well worth reading.
This brings us to today and the latest push by the City to get something built at least on the southern two of the three parking lots. I had the opportunity to walk down and take in the current plans at a public open house. While I am certain that almost anything would be an improvement over what is there now, I was underwhelmed and disappointed for at least three reasons.
Green Space
I can't blame planners when they come forward with drawings that have green splattered all over them. At almost any public hearing or planning meeting for a development I have ever been at there are many people complaining that the plan before them does not have enough green space. Mix together that fear and a site that is immediately controversial and there will be a tendency to put in a lot of green space in it off the bat. In this case the green space is completely out of proportion with the site and takes away from the site's urban place in the city at the western end of Old Town.
Within a short walk of this site there is enough green space to make almost any other city's downtown envious. There is the legislature grounds, the Empress, St. Ann's Academy, Cridge Park, Thunderbird Park and of course Beacon Hill Park. While it always seems like it will be beneficial, green space works in much the same way as retail space, it has to be based on nearby residential population density and transient population use. Just as there are vacant store fronts when there are not enough shoppers to keep them open, too much green space will lead to empty space or areas that are used for ill purposes. That even now, we are already at an oversupply is evident by taking a walk past Reeson Park next to the Johnson Street Bridge.
I think that the southern lot that includes Ship Point could have green space that comes down to face a performance stage or other use, but that only works if the rest of the lot is built to maximise year round intensive use.
Commercial / Institutional Uses
The best way to maximise use year round is to make a lot of people either want to go there or have to go there. In the current plan there is a building in the north eastern corner of the lot (covered in green space). During the presentation it was clear that there is not an intended use for this building. Maybe it will have some offices, maybe a museum, but nothing really set. What is clear to me is that this building is the key to making this lot successful. Out of the gate the plan should include multiple restaurant venues with outdoor patios (there really are not enough, especially facing west). There should be significant dedicated office space to bring year round workers to the site, because otherwise in the winter this area will languish. There should also be a large space for indoor year round cultural or institutional use. This could be a cultural centre for local First Nations to run; a new home for the Maritime Museum; an art gallery; or possibly a satellite UVic campus. Something that can be appreciated by locals and make people want to go there even in the rain in February.
The last thing I will say about the building is that in the concept plan, it is hidden, trying not to be seen as a building. In my opinion this is an insult to our harbour which is all about grand striking architecture. I don't think it needs to be a massive building but I think it needs to be bold and be asking for people to look at it.
Parking Lots
What I found almost as disappointing as the building, was that for what the City calls "Non-Event Times", a large portion of the site is turned over to maintaining this as a parking lot. When you consider that the times when an event is not occurring makes up about eighty percent of the year, the plan really just continues the status quo. The fact that parking cars is an integral part of the plan especially for the southern portion, in my mind means that the design has already failed.
There is a lot more to go into in these plans, like the idea of an urban beach or the grand staircase from Broughton Street, and I encourage all of you to visit the City's website, look at all the information and provide them your honest feedback on all of it.
I know I will be. (Concept B Flex Pavilion looks the closest to what I think should go there from the Concept Options Memo)
There is also a long standing discussion thread on VibrantVictoria here, that has been going strong since 2014.