Stuart Hult, whose family has been in Kingston since the 19th century, is alarmed by the changes he sees in the city’s historic core. Hult says he ‘feels sick’ [his] stomach” every time he drives downtown.
Hult is referring to the recently approved 25-storey apartment building that will be built where the GoodLife Fitness currently stands on Wellington Street. He describes the building as striking and believes that it detracts from the city’s historic landscape.
“These buildings are intrusive, they take away our horizons and raise the temperature in urban environments,” says Hult. “Building expensive apartments will not produce viable housing.”
Hult says he believes these developments will change the integrity of the cityscape.
“Getting the Princess Street differences from the last IN8 development was the first step towards the further demise of Queen’s Street and so on,” he adds.
In response to concerns about the new additions, Mayor Bryan Paterson assures that the goal is to strengthen the downtown area rather than shrink it.
“I think there is a balance and ultimately we can have a beautiful historic downtown, but we also need people to live in that core to maintain the vibrancy that of course we all know and love,” Paterson said. say.
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The mayor also points out the challenges of appealing development decisions.
“It would have cost a lot of legal fees and a lot of time and money, but ultimately you’re going to see that project go ahead anyway, so I think it’s just something we have to accept.”
Darryl Firsten, president of IN8 Developments, says the “elephant” in Kingston is the housing shortage and that is what IN8 is trying to solve by adding this apartment complex.
“Take a leap of faith. It has worked in many other major cities and most other major cities in the world and it will make this city better,” Firsten said.
Hult worries about ‘who’ the city will be better for; they are residents or developers. But he agrees Kingston needs more places for people to live. He just wishes it were more affordable and less flashy.
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