Residents in Rosemont-Mount Royal community get first look at Orr Centre redevelopment

Residents in the Rosemont-Mount Royal community are voicing concerns over the proposed redevelopment of the Orr Centre site, specifically its impact on traffic in an already busy area.

The local community association got the plans on Friday and some of the proposed uses include a restaurant, a gas station, a car wash, office space and a grocery store.

Much of the feedback has been aired out over Facebook.

Alex Tkach, vice-president of the Rosemont-Mount Royal Community Association, said many of the concerns about traffic are longstanding.

He has spoken to the city in the past about congestion on Connaught Street, a narrow road with parking on both sides. Combined with school bus dropoffs, he said the area is prone to collisions.

As well, residents have found Fourth Avenue increasingly busy. Tkach said the street has become like a major artery in the city.

It is expected that the area will see more semi traffic to serve the grocery store and the gas station.

“So now you’re having heavy-duty vehicles that are turning into an area that’s already difficult to navigate … Connaught as a street is pretty torn up. So this is going to do more damage to it and who’s going to actually pay for that to be repaired?” Tkach said.

Tkach said residents are also questioning what the proposed grocery store would be and whether it’s needed considering there’s a No Frills further down the road.

The Orr Centre, located at Fourth Avenue and Lewvan Drive, housed the University of Saskatchewan’s nursing college (which will remain), the Canadian Bible College and the Western Christian College. Much of it was demolished last year after council had it rezoned for commercial use — a way to entice buyers, Tkach said.

The area is also designated as a holding overlay zone, meaning plans are subject to public consultation and then a vote by council.

Residents have until March 5 to send feedback to the city.

“It’s nice to see some revitalization in the community, absolutely. It’s good to see shops that offer these opportunities and bring some amenities into our area,” he said.

“We just want to make sure that they are amenities that are going to lift up and help the area instead of just being a place where people heading down Lewvan stop in quickly and then leave.”

Tkach sees high stakes for the development. Its location serves as a gateway to the community and he wants builders to get it right.

“I’ve always felt that when you’re driving past a community, the amenities that you see on the edge of that kind of tells you something about the community that you’re going into,” he said.

“We want to continue to have a community anchor point. It was nice having our MLA in the office there … There was a daycare (and) the school of nursing where there was lots of nursing students that are part of our community. They rent in our area.

“It has always been a community hub. It would just be sad to lose that.”