Refurbished city hall square to re-open in June
CBC
Just in time for summer: a new and improved Carl Zehr Square will re-open for citizens to enjoy.
Lynda Stewart, the project manager for the rehabilitation of City Hall Outdoor Spaces says the refurbished square will be more accessible, secure, and versatile for any occasion.
"The water feature has been redesigned to be — instead of a standing pool of water with five large fountain heads in the center — it is an arching display of 250 jets across the front of the square, closer to the entrance to King Street," said Stewart.
"It can just turn off those jets, let it drain down, and there's a concrete surface that's ready for some other use."
Stewart says the ice rink stays and a new stage will be more accessible that "allows for the speaker or the performers to angle whichever way they're facing the audience."
The City of Kitchener started planning for the square's facelift and work on surrounding streets in 2016.
"The reason for doing that was to replace the waterproofing membrane [over] the parking garage. And at the same time, we took the advantage of the construction to redevelop it, to be a little bit more flexible for the multiple ways that we use it for events and activities," said Stewart.
"The other thing that people will notice ... is significantly different, is that for additional physical security, we've put bollards around the perimeter."
The current site of Kitchener City Hall and the public square opened in September of 1992.
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