Latest news with #bandshell
CBC
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Province reviewing options for Windsor Stadium amid push for Jackson Park band shell restoration
Social Sharing A key piece of public property that Windsor's mayor says stands in the way of any effective restoration of the Jackson Park bandshell could soon be up for grabs. A spokesperson for Ontario's minister of education is confirming that Windsor Stadium is going through a process that could lead to its sale. The neglected public school board property is now being considered for new uses by the province and Mayor Drew Dilkens has suggested it could be purchased by the city. Windsor's English public school board has submitted the Windsor Stadium track and field property to the Ministry of Education as a site they want to get rid of. Ontario is considering potential alternate uses for the site, which could include housing development, but "it would be premature to speculate on the outcome of the review at this time," said a spokesperson for Ontario's education minister. Taxpayers have made continuous plea for renovated band shell This first came to light when Windsor's mayor abruptly halted Monday's council meeting. People were pleading for city council to spend money on a study that could present options for the future of the decrepit Jackson Park bandshell. Dilkens said he told council in private session that the Windsor Stadium property could soon be for sale, which could change options for the site moving forward. Current condition of Jackson Park bandshell 'shrugging' off Windsor's story, says historian 4 years ago Duration 1:28 Kimberly Simmons' grandfather chaired Emancipation Day ceremonies in Windsor that would draw hundreds of thousands of people from across North America. Dilkens has in the past opposed spending money on a study that would look at how to restore the Jackson Park bandshell because he believes it can't be done without owning the track field and grandstand behind the site. The bandshell holds great significance in Windsor's history because it was the home of massively attended Emancipation Day celebrations. But it's now rotted away, sitting idle for decades without being used except to store city equipment. The version that stands at Jackson Park now is not the same one that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at in 1956. That's because a fire destroyed the building a year later. City council is expected to discuss paying for the Jackson Park band shell feasibility study again at its next council meeting. Staff now believe the initial $120,000 estimated for the study is not enough because they believe it will require a Heritage Impact Assessment. However, the chair of the Windsor Region Society of Architects has wrote to council saying that the city's asking for qualifications that are "excessive and will inflate the costs" involved in the study.
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Bandshell future on hold as city eyes Windsor Stadium land.
City council is holding off on deciding the future of the Jackson Park bandshell in Jackson Park as it explores an opportunity to buy the nearby Windsor Stadium property. During Monday's council meeting, a debate around whether a request for proposals should be issued to study the feasibility of the future of the bandshell was unexpectedly halted when Mayor Drew Dilkens called council in-camera to share some information that could impact their decision. When the council returned, the debate over the future of the bandshell was deferred to the next meeting of the council. Following the meeting, Dilkens told the media that the city had received information late last week that the Greater Essex County District School Board, through the Ontario government, had listed the stadium land for sale for the purpose of housing development. The stadium lands back on Jackson Park in the area of the bandshell. Dilkens says the prospect of housing development on the land next to the bandshell would impact any decision made by council. He says the fair market value for the land at 2365 McDougall St. is just under $3 million, and it's something council needs to discuss, as any potential purchase was not budgeted for. Dilkens says he's been saying since 2019 that he'd like the city to purchase Windsor Stadium. 'It makes a lot of sense to incorporate it into the Jackson Park piece that we already own. At the end of the day, though, if it's only for housing purposes, we need to figure out if it's something we need to do,' he said. 'If it's a function of Housing Solutions Made for Windsor, are we best to take that property to work through the process or let it go to the private sector and let them do what they're going to do?' According to Dilkens, council knows it's going to be very expensive to restore that bandshell and members know there would be fair market purchase of the property. 'Council needs to figure out whether they have the money, whether they want to take that property and put it in the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor portfolio, and then consider if we're successful on those fronts, how does that impact the work you may or may not do on future bandshell restoration?' he says. The administration report before the council recommended that a request for proposals to conduct a feasibility study be cancelled due to the cost being above the $120,000 budget set for the study. The report warned there is a significant financial risk associated with conducting the feasibility study and that if it moves forward, there may be findings that determine additional testing might be required, such as soil or environmental, at additional costs. Administration instead recommended council consider a symbolic monument/memorial to the site, such as an Emancipation Celebrations Monument within Jackson Park. In the 1940s and 1950s, the original bandshell hosted Emancipation Day celebrations that drew crowds for speeches from civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was destroyed in a fire and replaced by the existing bandshell, which fell into disrepair over the years. - Rusty Thomson/AM800 News
CBC
13-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Debate on future of Jackson Park bandshell deferred
A city council discussion to decide the future of the historic Jackson Park bandshell has been put off due to a revelation: The public school board is selling some of the bandshell's land. CBC's Dalson Chen reports from Windsor city hall.
CBC
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Artists, musicians ask for Windsor's historic Jackson Park bandshell to be restored
The future of Jackson Park's bandshell will be discussed at city council Monday, with a long list of speakers who want to see it saved and revitalized as a space for musicians and artists. However, city staff say studying its future is too expensive. Councillors will consider a report outlining the results of a procurement process undertaken by city staff earlier this year for a feasibility study of the bandshell. "It's really important for the council and mayor to understand that this space just doesn't represent the cultural history and the way it supports Windsor's Black community but also an opportunity for arts organizations, producers to use this space in future," Kristen Siapas said, president of CUPE Local 1393. "It's not just to honour what's past but to keep that legacy alive by keeping it vibrant and letting this space be of service to the arts community going forward." Siapas said there "really is a lack of performance space" of the bandshell's size in the city. She said while there's a huge space downtown for live outdoor events at the riverfront, and smaller spaces scattered across the city, there's nothing like it. 'Doesn't need that much investment': local artist The bandshell has been deteriorating for about 30 years and has been unused during that time. The current structure dates to 1959, after the previous bandshell — in Windsor since 1909 — burned down in a fire. In its heyday, the performance space was a central element of Windsor's Emancipation Day celebrations and battles of the bands. It's played host to musical greats like Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. "It's so disappointing to see the way this building has been kept but there's so much potential here," Siapas said. Council will deliberate whether the city should study its future. Any study would be limited to the heritage and technical attributes of the structure. Staff received one response to a request for proposals issued to do the feasibility study, and "after reviewing the submission and adding standard departmental project management fees along with a contingency, the proposed funding [of $120,000] to complete the feasibility study would not be adequate," staff wrote. "There is a significant financial risk associated with conducting the feasibility study," staff wrote. "If council directs administration to move forward with this study, during the course of the study, there may be findings that determine additional testing might be required (soil, environmental, etc.) at additional costs." Staff recommend council cancel the request for proposals for the feasibility study. Also included in the report is a proposal for an Emancipation celebrations monument for the park, a project previously endorsed by two city committees. Funding for that would be about $50,000. In the past, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has said the bandshell cannot be restored facing the Windsor stadium because of a berm built between the two structures and the placement of the bandshell relative to the track field that is part of the stadium. "I absolutely have enough information to know that bandshell in that location will not work," said Dilkens. 'An opportunity to get people engaged': Windsor Federation of Musicians Rick LaBonte, vice president of Windsor Federation of Musicians Local 566, will be attending the council meeting in person arguing in favour of investing in it as a music performance venue. He said with the city losing many music establishments, this space can be the ideal spot for live music events, saying "if you build it, they will come." LaBonte said many people will benefit with another option for live music. "This is an opportunity to get people engaged," he said. "It's so intimate, and a family friendly space." LaBonte said he'd be supportive of either a restoration, or some less expensive upgrades that could improve the place. . "I am more about the idea than the place." "A lot of people made some memories here and there's a whole generation that hasn't. We need to correct that."
