The City of St. John’s announced Friday the “What We Heard” document summarizing public feedback for re-imagining Churchill Square is available online at engagestjohns.ca.
According to a news release, from March to June the public engagement process used a variety of methods to reach the community, including an interactive project page, a postcard invite to residents in the area, an online survey, virtual meetings with the public and the Churchill Square Business Association, as well as consultation with six of the city’s advisory committees.
There were 1,898 unique visits to the city’s engage page, 646 responses to the online survey, and more than 80 attendees at the virtual information sessions.
Key themes that emerged include:
• Space needs to be pedestrian and community oriented;
• More outdoor amenities and upgrades to current infrastructure is needed;
• Ample parking is critical to the success of businesses in Churchill Square;
• Well-spaced accessible parking, and improved accessibility of buildings is required;
• Re-configuration of traffic flow and/or parking could provide more community space;
• More greenspace and improved snow clearing.
The city says further engagement will take place on a draft concept design once completed.
