Downtown Plaza
Introduction
The City of Sault Ste. Marie is developing a plan for a Civic Plaza in the downtown core. It will be a four-season destination full of exciting activities for all ages and ability levels.
Downtown Plaza Concept – Bird’s Eye View
About the Project
The detailed design and implementation of a Public Plaza in downtown Sault Ste. Marie presents a unique opportunity to create a vital community hub. The intention for this place is to be nothing less than an extraordinary, four-season public plaza that is at once a place of celebration and a place for the everyday. The plaza is to be full of activities that draw users throughout the year and across all ages and ability levels. The Plaza design process will build on growing awareness in the community of the importance of activity-based destinations in the downtown, which began with the
City of Sault Ste. Marie’s 2016 Downtown Strategy and established key objectives to animate and rejuvenate the downtown. The new Downtown Civic Plaza will be a critical piece in helping to realize this strategy.
The Plaza will contain a series of elements, including:
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Skating Rink and water feature
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Flexible event / gathering area
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Stage with outdoor screen
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Outdoor Farmer’s Market area
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Play Zone
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Lighting Displays
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Shade Structures
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Public washrooms and change area
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Seating
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Trees and planting beds
The plaza will be designed to minimize embodied carbon inputs and maximize the carbon sequestration capacity post-completion.
The plaza elements and design will be refined through consultation with the community.
Project Status
The project is currently in the conceptual design phase. For details pertaining to concept design,
click here for a video presentation and
here for a PDF version of the presentation.
Downtown Plaza Consultation Summary
The project team conducted a range of engagement sessions for the conceptual development of the Downtown Plaza. The engagement sessions included a presentation to Council, a collaborative meeting with the Downtown Association, two public Zoom sessions and an online survey.
Please follow the below link to view a summary of the engagement sessions.
Engagement Summary