Photo: Emily Stage of young & free press stands in the ‘Wings’ mural by world-renowned artist Kelsey Montague. The mural is located at 403 Talbot Street in St. Thomas.

Throughout this pandemic we have come to know the feeling of nearly losing our minds because we are unable to be around others. This has given us time to dream about creating places where we can gather. Quarantine is so boring, but gradually we will be able to return to public spaces. Looking at St. Thomas specifically, how can we really make our city a wonderful, welcoming place once we are finally set free? There are so many exciting possibilities!

In 2016, the City introduced a new ‘Complete Streets’ policy, one that encourages a much more welcoming aesthetic. The goal is to build a vibrant, attractive community that connects people from neighbourhood to neighbourhood through multiple modes of transportation, including driving, biking and walking. The updates that have been done already downtown using this policy look very modern, yet have accents of the history and roots of St. Thomas. Probably the best example is the west end of Talbot Street. The railway heritage of the community has been blended into the new street-scape design.

If I’m being completely honest, the old look of the downtown was definitely unwelcoming, even scary. This is true still of the parts that have yet to be updated. Some blocks feel like something out of a zombie movie, abandoned and dead. The pandemic has made this seem all-too-true. When the City updated certain blocks and kept the ‘Complete Streets’ policies in mind, everything felt a bit more hopeful. I feel much more comfortable walking around in a place that looks refreshed rather than a place that looks lonely and sketchy.

Justin Lawrence is the Director of Environmental Services for the City of St. Thomas. We asked him recently how he felt the City was doing as far as building more ‘Complete Streets’ and enhancing connectivity. “I think we’ve had a great last five years,” Lawrence noted, emphasizing that the process takes time and the results come gradually. “Council has committed a lot of money toward it. We’ve done a lot of great planning both for sidewalks and bike paths. We’ve added quite a network. There is still lots of work to do, but I think we’ve taken some great steps.”

There is something missing, though. The City can spend money on all these improvements – and we appreciate that – but if the local culture does not grow and evolve at the same time, nothing really changes. Downtown will look better, but may still feel vacant. Let me dig in here by looking at our current assets, and then provide a few ideas for the future. I took my guinea pig Ella out for a walk around downtown to highlight some key spots – we’ve added photos throughout, just for fun!

One spot that I am really glad has been added is the St. Thomas Elevated Park. This project has been supported generously by local individuals and businesses. It’s such a cool idea and is already a pretty interesting place to visit, plus we announced this week that there will be more trees and art added, as well as lighting and green spaces (find the details here). I think that we should add as much greenery as possible and let the arts really be present throughout the park and trail. Places like this help make a city better: go for a nice walk, maybe sit for a while, grab a book from the little free library and read – this sounds like a pretty nice get-away to me. I must say it was nice that one time there was a food truck up there. Everyone loves food! I think it would be amazing to have a food truck up there regularly during the summer especially. Imagine eating some tasty food while watching the sunset over the tree-filled horizon. Wouldn’t that be nice? Perhaps this could even be done with physical distancing during the pandemic.

The nearby statue of Jumbo is impressive, although it may start to seem like the same old elephant that we residents of St. Thomas see oh so often ... it’s a massive, very detailed elephant statue. Tourists come consistently, though, and everyone has a Jumbo photo somewhere. I imagine the statue as if he is guarding St. Thomas somehow. Like it or not, the death of Jumbo in 1885 is one of the founding moments in our local history, or even mythology (there are lots of stories out there surrounding the circumstances of his death). David Suzuki put together a documentary about Jumbo for his show The Nature of Things in 2018 – check that out here. NHL superstar Joe Thornton grew up in St. Thomas not far from the Jumbo statue, and of course came to be nicknamed ‘Jumbo Joe’. Our local brewery, Railway City Brewing, features a ‘Dead Elephant Ale’. There are notes of Jumbo everywhere.

When you think about the area around Jumbo, though, nothing much has changed since the statue was put there in 1985. Jumbo is cool, but that sort of status quo approach is not. We’re excited to help change that soon by adding our ‘GROW’ pop-up shop in the caboose that sits near Jumbo (see the full story here). What if we added some bright Muskoka chairs to the area to make the area even more of a landmark photo-spot for Instagram? Plus, the chairs would be nice to sit in while enjoying your Subway or Timmies (the two food options nearby). Better yet, how about a food truck on-site? I think a better garden would be nice, maybe one that attracts butterflies. How about a small swing set, or a paint-wall for kids? The site is small, but with some creativity of course it could become even more interesting. Unlock the potential of the area.

Ella at the Jumbo monument at the west end of St. Thomas.

If you haven’t noticed, there’s been many new murals put up around town within the past year. It’s fantastic to add more colour, more pop, and more interesting views to the city, especially a rather conservative one like St. Thomas. The boxcar murals near the Elgin County Railway Museum are such a great idea and look amazing. Artists include MEDIAH, Laura Woermke, Grayden Laing, and Jaclyn White. The boxcars can be moved to different locations, which is really cool, kind of an on-the-go art piece. Plus, the whole concept is a nice reference to our local history as ‘The Railway City’ – murals on the train tracks! I think this is a good example of a St. Thomas heritage twist. Some people get glued to the history of St. Thomas, but forget that we also need to move forward. We can still recognize our history, but I like the idea of recognizing Jumbo, the railways, and Alma College through things that point towards our future. The boxcar mural by MEDIAH has a very high-tech feel to it, perfect for reminding us to keep focused on our future.

Ella at the boxcar murals by the Elgin County Railway Museum in downtown St. Thomas. The mural visible in the photo is by artist MEDIAH. Additional murals on the boxcars are by artists Laura Woermke, Jaclyn White, and Grayden Laing. This artwork con… — Ella at the boxcar murals by the Elgin County Railway Museum in downtown St. Thomas. The mural visible in the photo is by artist MEDIAH. Additional murals on the boxcars are by artists Laura Woermke, Jaclyn White, and Grayden Laing. This artwork connects with the heritage of the community as ‘The Railway City’, but feels contemporary and forward-thinking, too.

What if we became the street art capital of Canada? We shared an announcement this week of a donation from the Estate of Donna Bushell to support the ‘Track to the Future’ mural project through Railway City Tourism. As we add murals throughout the downtown area, people will come. Murals make great Instagram photo-spots. Even in a pandemic, we can still go for a walk – why not change the whole downtown into an art gallery? There are lots of benefits to shifting more art and culture outdoors.

The introduction of more walking and cycling trails has helped to update St. Thomas. For me personally, the paths provide a shortcut to Pinafore Park, a place to walk my dog, a way to meet with friends, and just a great way to get across the city without interference from traffic. Being out in nature with the trees surrounding the path, this is a beautiful sight and we need more of this in the City -- natural walking and cycling corridors that feel safe and help us move quickly. It would be so good if we could get more paths for those who enjoy walking, especially for people like me who don’t have a vehicle. If there are lots of paths and green spaces in a city, more people get access to the experience. The pandemic has made this all the more important. The ‘Whistle-Stop Trail’ through the centre of town gets a lot of use. I always see people there – that’s definitely money well-spent, although it would be nice if there was more lighting on the path. The area does not always feel like a safe place to walk through at night.

We asked Justin Lawrence how the pandemic might prompt more investment in these areas. In large cities in Europe, and even in some places in North America, cities have been taking a bit of space away from cars to allow more room for cyclists and pedestrians. This is helpful when we think about the need for physical distancing. Lawrence notes that St. Thomas already has some advantages that we should keep in mind. “We’ve got a lot of great things going for us already, right?” he begins, speaking specifically about multiple modes of transit. “We’ve got a small city in terms of the distance to get anywhere. We’ve got low traffic volumes and low traffic speeds. It makes for a great opportunity for walking and biking. Hopefully we can continue to encourage those modes, and I think we’ve done a good job with that. We’ve got a great sidewalk network and we’re adding to it all the time. We’ve got a great bike network and we’re adding to that all the time. The biking and the walking integrate together as well. People go on and off a road and onto a multi-use path, and they get back onto a road and they finish their trip.”

The CASO station is a beautiful building, but there’s a crazy amount of empty space south of the structure. The whole area feels sort of vacant. I understand that redeveloping the site means big money, and there are some environmental issues with the land near the Elgin County Railway Museum. What could be done on an interim basis? It would be cool to put lights on the key railway buildings, like the CASO Station, Railway Museum and BX Tower. Imagine LED lights outlining each building, or lights on the ground illuminating each one. That would make walking downtown at night more interesting (and seem a bit safer, too.)

Ella at the CASO Station, 750 Talbot Street in downtown St. Thomas. The building is a stunner — completed in 1873, the former railway station is now the site of offices and event spaces.

There’s a little green-space near the CASO Station called Jonas Park, and the City owns more land adjacent to the site that could be developed. The Railway Museum owns much of the land in the area and could use some help to bring about the future for the neighbourhood. Coming out of the pandemic, maybe this is the property for our MP, MPP, and Mayor to focus with stimulus funding … let’s develop a vision for what this property could be and get that moving. Even if more trees could be planted, plus walking paths, art, anything — this an opportunity to update St. Thomas and transform that property into the central event space for the community. Imagine concerts and festivals there, and businesses that really connect with the area.

One project in the making right now is the green space next to the St. Thomas Public Library. Initial plans were developed a few years ago for a new park. We announced recently $500,000 in funding from the Donna Bushell Estate to transform this area into the ‘Westlake-Evans Civic Park’ … this is such an exciting development for the City! With the kids from the Library and a new daycare planned for across the street, we think that the park will be well-used. There will be an outdoor classroom and play area for kids, table tennis tables, plus a baby grand piano in a weather-proof structure by the Library. Check out the photo of Ella below in the empty space, and then the concept plan for the new park.

Ella in the green space at the corner of St. Catharine and Curtis streets next to the St. Thomas Public Library.

Concept plan for the new Westlake-Evans Civic Park. Design by Ron Koudys Landscape Architects.

Personally, I want to see a butterfly conservatory in St. Thomas like the one in Cambridge, but that’s very expensive and probably difficult to maintain. There are bushes that attracts butterflies, though, and maybe we could plant a grouping and turn part of the new park into a natural outdoor butterfly conservatory (art students could come to paint the beautiful butterfly scene). I imagine this new green space will be perfect for picnics, reading library books in the shade, and I hope it will be filled with happy times and generate lots of great memories for the community. That’s what I really want for this space – a place that is safe, and has the right things to create memories. You could have performances of all kinds there, art exhibits, and maybe night-markets, too. There’s really just so many exciting possibilities that can be dreamt up. Cities thrive when we relax a little bit and let creative people come up with new ideas, and allow for a bit of randomness.

St. Thomas has had some much-needed updates recently, and still has many to look forward to in the future. That’s exciting. I’ve lived in St. Thomas my whole life and I’m happy to see what has changed for the good. I’m excited to see what other surprises the future may hold, and to hear what plans are already being made for this little city. For the sake of the younger kids growing up here right now, let’s make this a place that teenagers want to call home – then, after we leave to go to school or work or travel, maybe we will want to come back here as adults.