Skip to main content

From Ponds to Parking and Back Again: The History of Coldspring Valley

McMaster University's parking lot in the west campus sits atop the floodplain for Ancaster Creek, metres away from Cootes Paradise. Lot M, N, O and P collectively buried a former nature sanctuary owned by the Royal Botanical Gardens known as Coldspring Valley.

RESTORE COOTES' Randy Kay will be presenting a history of the area this Thursday for the Dundas Valley Historical Society. More than a history, this talk will provide a window into ongoing positive developments that could bring back much of the natural glory to this special but degraded valley.


From Ponds to Parking Lot and Back Again?
The History of Coldspring Valley

All presentations take place at
The Dundas Museum & Archives
139 Park St. West (at Albert)
Dundas, Ontario

Doors open at 7 p.m.
Presentation begins at 7:30
Please come early, as seating is limited.

Admission: $2 for members, $3 for non-members

For more information, please e-mail Judith Morphet, President of the DVHS

http://www.unityserve.org/dundashistory/

Comments

Exploriment said…
Maybe I just don't see it, but when is this?
Randy said…
It was last Thursday, I didn't notice that the date wasn't in the description (it was only in the link at the bottom) - sorry about that!

Popular posts from this blog

Binkley's Pond, gone for parking

Jacob Binkley (1806-67), great grandson of Marx [Binkley], built the handsome stone house that still stands at 54 Sanders Blvd at the head of a ravine. The house was completed in 1847 and named Lakelet Vale, as it had a little spring-fed lake at the rear. Binkley's Pond, as it was known, was used for skating, fishing, and good times. It is now the Zone 6 parking lot at McMaster University on the west side of Cootes Drive. Loreen Jerome, The Way We Were "The House that Jacob Built" Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners Inc. (AWWCA) http://www.awwca.ca/articles/ Skater's on Binkley's Pond circa 1917, now a McMaster parking lot

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article.  Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa...

McMaster's Parking Non-Problem Problem.

Looking at McMaster University 's plan to build a $12-million dollar parking garage at the site of current Parking Lot K, west of Cootes Drive. The University Planning Committee minutes from March 18, 2020 cite the need to replace their 490-stall Ward Avenue parking lot by 2024. That's the only reason given. Let's do some math: $12 mil/490 spaces=$24,489.00 per stall, which is in line with rough pricing per stall in parking structures. In McMaster's 2011 Campus Master Plan (CMP’11), they identified lot K & 4 other campus sites for potential “Academic, research or residence *above parking structure* & Lot i as a “parking structure” site. Now it looks like Lot K loses the " Academic, research or residence" part and becomes just a "parking structure." But wait! The more recent Facility Services Capital Plan Update 2021/2022 has a $17-million price tag for the structure. That's almost a 42% increase on the March 2020 UPC’s $12 million. This p...