Tuesday, February 6, 2018

The downtown renewal achieved
when Concordia University created
a downtown campus.

The following was originally published in the Nanaimo Daily News, Aug 20, 2015. Reprinted with permission of the author. Andrew Homzy is a Grammy nominated musician, Professor Emeritus, Concordia University. Andrew is also President of the Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association.
Moving Vancouver Island University music and performing arts students to Nanaimo's Vancouver Island Conference Centre could rejuvenate the city's core and would make use of existing space in the conference centre, says Andrew Homzy, a professor emeritus from Concordia University who now resides on Protection Island.

Homzy taught jazz at Concordia in Montreal for 40 years beginning in the late 1970s in Montreal and said both the city and school benefited from moving music and theatre downtown in a pitch to council and VIU officials via email this week.
Homzy said performing arts students went to a separate campus outside of the city, unlike visual arts students, who were located in the downtown campus.

"This was unfortunate for the performing arts students because they were greatly removed from the professional performance venues, work/study opportunities and the vibrant inspiring 'buzz' which makes Montreal such a great city," he said in his email.

"Finally, in 2009, a huge project was completed which united all of the fine arts students in the heart of downtown. .. Within one semester, both the neighbourhood and the students were transformed. And that's what I'd like to see happen here."

An influx of arts students into the downtown core would drive demand for accommodation and services and liven up the area, he said. Repurposing the city owned conference centre has increasingly become a topic of conversation in light of what critics have described as a disappointing performance from the conference centre.

Mayor Bill McKay said he wants to continue the current course and instead seek out business opportunities to bolster the facility's fortunes. McKay and city manager Ted Swabey were in Vancouver Wednesday meeting with representatives of Great Canadian Casinos, who McKay said is looking to expand their facility.

"There are a lot of folks with a lot of ideas for the VICC, none of whom have any backers, and you need to have willing investors to make a project like that come to fruition," McKay said.

"We've talked to VIU about it before, VICC is nowhere in the plans of VIU, in any way, shape or form. "As it stands right now, I'm not prepared at this point to give up on that centre as a conference centre."McKay said a planned expansion of the Port Theatre and the prospect of a new downtown hotel has increased economic potential for the area.

A response from VIU president Ralph Nilson's office was not received by press time.

Monday, January 29, 2018


Wednesday, December 13, 2017

South Downtown Waterfront Lands
draft master plan

The South Downtown Waterfront Lands draft master plan is on Monday’s Council agenda. PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GlCFRwLXhHT_EPUT36IxZ0s81e9EPUWa/view

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Nanaimo City Hall —
from a parking lot to an urban square

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Democratic Values in Planning —
Urban Design for the Public Good:
Assignment 7, Structure Transformed

5. Uses This was a massing and mixed-uses study for a portion of a City-owned south downtown property. A mostly single-use City-owned multiplex hockey arena was proposed and defeated in a referendum. Objective here was to imagine a productive mix of mid-denstiy low-rise residential with commercial and institutional components.


4. Buildings The short-block street grid illustrated here allows for a dynamic range of land ownership possibilities including the long-term leasing of some sub-divided parcels by the City on which it could partner with non-profit organizations to build non-market housing, social, co-op, assisted, etc. Some properties would be divested to the marketplace bringing a range of uses and new capital for development. An institutional presence, Vancouver Island University, the Snuneymuxw First Nations, Federal and Provincial governments should be encouraged.



3. Public Space The precinct is anchored in the adjoining acreage between here the harbour, the Strait of Georgia (the Salish Sea). This area in its entirity should be maintained in the public domain in perpetuity and should become a brilliant new urban plaza on the waterfront. The 4 and 5 storey office and  institutional buildings in the southwest corner of the site have generous setbacks from the street allowing for green space and public use.



2. Urban Plan A visioning and guiding principles process was completed in 2013 and its reports presented to Council. The guiding principles establish the importance of connectivity, the working harbour and “bold, resilient and visionary” land use. There are rail rights-of-way on the site but it is not presently used for rail freight.

1. Terrain The site is relatively flat and has been used for industrial purposes of many years. Some remediation work has been done and it has been cleared for development with some restrictions. Its elevation is just above sea level, restricting some below grade possibilities. 
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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Democratic Values in Planning —
Urban Design for the Public Good: Assignment 6, Modelling in Urban Planning

1. Shadow analysis in SketchUp showing shadow impacts of a 10 storey building at Fitzwilliam and Selby Streets. June 1, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM



2. The ideal map. As 2D mapping transitions to 3D, enabling more and more layered information, the new Google Earth is currently, arguably, the best mapping format available. These are examples of the kinds of data (more is being added every day) available with this kind of mapping technologies —
  • Distance measures by car, bike, walk.
  • Ruler tool for detailed measurements.
  • Info cards link to points of interest details.
  • Layers for user inputs.
  • 3D building models.
  • Street view.
  • Photo galleries.

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