The boundaries of our neighbourhood association (as shown here) end at King Street. But just across this street and a block further is the Tannery. This has been called the “Tannery District”, probably to positively associate it with the Distillery District in Toronto. But if Caden (the developer) has their way, and tears down two heritage buildings to build a small gravel parking lot, then there won’t really be any “district”, there will just be one building and a lot of parking.
Let’s never forget that Caden has done many positive things in developing and promoting the Tannery. However, tearing down these buildings, nondescript as they are, is a bad thing for the downtown and for any hopes of creating a “district”.
There has been a great deal written on this controversy in The Record and elsewhere. Rather than rehash the issues, I merely want to provide links to where you can get more information.
James Howe does a great job describing the issues on his Blog “kingandottawa“.
Here is a good article on the Tannery in The Record.
I would urge everyone to write, email or contact city councillors and the Mayor and anyone else you think important to show your support for these buildings. (Of course you can also voice your support for the gravel parking lot option, but I would disagree….).
There is also a Facebook group called Save the Lang Buildings! Please consider joining it.
I work for a company going into the Tannery. Now, I know tearing down the buildings will not be popular but, IMO, it's a small step back and a big leap forward. If we want to attract tech companies to setup in the downtown, they need reasonable parking. Without generating some economic momentum, all the good wishes in the work won't save these buildings.