Makeover for downtown Strathmore

Times Contributor   

 

The Strathmore and District Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon on March 11, where Linda Nelson, the Town of Strathmore’s Deputy Chief Administration Officer, debuted ideas for a Town of Strathmore overlay. The three themes, and examples of potential streetscapes for the town beautification, revolve around a railroad theme, Victorian, or Old town. 

“The overlay in the downtown area would allow the existing building zoning uses to remain, but allow for renovations or expansions. A guideline would be in place that mixes new land uses appropriate to both the needs of the community and the scale of surrounding neighborhoods, including the adaptive reuse of abandoned, vacant or underutilized buildings or structures where appropriate. The designated architectural controls in the overlay would ensure a consistently high level of design quality throughout the district, or alternatively, the designs could be compatible, depending on the community’s vision for the area,” Nelson stated in her presentation.

She said that the downtown beautification topic was discussed at council’s fall workshop. She said town beautification had been an issue that has been talked about by many people for quite a few years. Council gave staff the directive to come up with some possibilities and work with Chamber of Commerce to gather community involvement.

“For the idea to develop, it really takes a commitment from the community, “said Nelson.

She said there will be a series of open houses and presentations to get community feedback. Once the concepts have been presented and the community feedback data is gathered, the next step would be to develop a bylaw to present to council for discussion.