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History of The Village

A LONG AND WINDING ROAD

 

What started as a proposal for a grocery superstore on an abandoned orchard has taken nearly three decades to come to the almost completed plan residents of The Village in Niagara-on-the-Lake have been anticipating. When first residents John and Shirley Rock arrived in 1998, the site was a sea of mud. Gradually neighbours were acquired and as they bonded over the shared adversity of living on a building site, they developed a camaraderie that continues today.

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Twenty-five years later, Shirley still lives in The Village, though sadly without John. Her neighbours and friends Sally Harmer (with her late husband Jack), Adam and Eleanor Wilkie and Warren and Luba Fraser are four out of the five “originals” still in their homes. They tell stories of communal BBQs and convivial evenings under the stars.

Among the many features that make The Village unique are a series of pedestrian walkways which wind between houses. The concept was developed by Léon Krier, a European architect and planner who developed the master plan and architectural codes for King Charles III’s model village at Poundbury, England. So-called Krier Walks add a level of walkability that distinguishes the community. Another feature is laneways which allow parking at the back of houses, rather than facing the street. Taking inspiration from leafy Old Town, all roads in The Village are tree lined, with gently curving vistas and sidewalks on both sides of the roadway. Finally, a master plan and architectural code, to which all must adhere, ensures the community sticks to the original vision of New Urbanism.

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With the site cleared and services put in, John’s next big challenge was to find people willing to buy lots without the usual process of visiting a model home. He invited several dozen prospects to a presentation at the local Navy Hall and used images to sell the vision. Buyers were invited to choose from preselected architects and contractors and build their own houses. The first two streets to be built were Samuel and Elizabeth. Andrés was still deeply involved, but he warned John that until a couple of streets were completed the project would not reach the critical mass of looking and feeling like a village. Eventually, that happened and The Village began to take off.

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But there was a storm brewing that eventually delayed the balance of The Village for a dreadful six and a half years. Bud had died and his heirs were not onside with the concept. Fortunately, John and his wife Liz kept the vision alive and eventually prevailed. Brookfield Homes approached them with a proposal to develop half the remaining site. To ensure that Brookfield knew exactly what was expected of them, John insisted on a trip back to Seaside to meet Andrés and his team. This convinced senior management that they were on the right track, despite it being contrary to the way Brookfield usually handled developments. Now, they proudly tour people around The Village.

John collaborated closely with Brookfield and continued to develop the balance of the property. Liz, who was a designer, created interiors for the new buildings, greatly adding to their value. The real turning point came when John convinced them to build a new presentation centre in a prominent position and add a huge verandah on which a couple of dozen folks could assemble for drinks and chats. Visible from the main road, it became a great attraction and encouraged new residents to sign up.

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Bud Wright, a Toronto stockbroker, was the original owner of the land. He had previously developed the Garrison Village subdivision and was proposing to continue that approach to Niagara Stone Road, but that concept, along with the huge store, was not welcomed by civic officials or a vocal group of residents of the Old Town. Meanwhile, John Hawley had been overseeing a retirement village in Vineland. Tired of commuting from his home in Toronto, he and his wife moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Fortuitously, John and Bud got together and started rethinking the 55-acre site. Investigating a planning movement styled New Urbanism, John visited Seaside, architect Andrés Duany’s signature work in the Florida panhandle. For John, it was an epiphany and Bud enthusiastically agreed to bring Andrés onboard.The next step was to sell the budding concept to officials and residents. Andrés and his hand-picked team came to town, spent a week studying the classic buildings of the Old Town, which make it such an agreeable place to live, developed the master plan and presented it at public meetings. Lord Mayor Michael Dietsch loved it. The objectors loved it. The concept took another step forward.

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John’s vision was that the entire site had to be walkable and grow organically, with single family homes, semi-detached houses, townhouses and apartment buildings intermingled. Although NOTL has become a naturally occurring retirement community—what planners call a NORC—he wanted to build a new village with a diversity of housing, including some apartments. Indeed, three blocks of apartment buildings were the last residential units to be completed in 2021, the first to be built in NOTL in over three decades.

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By 2017, most of the planned 300 properties had been built, keeping to the original mixture of apartments, town homes, semi-detached, single homes, with a scattering of more substantial single detached buildings along the perimeter of the property. These were positioned to allay the fears of residents of the original Garrison Village, who feared their property values would be affected by smaller lots. As it turned out, all values increased.

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The community aspect of The Village has been kept alive by volunteers from The Village Community Association (VCA). Originally simply a group of like-minded individuals who bonded over shared BBQs and social gatherings, it has grown into a formal organization with the purpose of supporting the interests of all residents and liaising with the rest of the NOTL community to ensure the values of The Village are retained.

Now in 2023, as the 25th anniversary of the first house being built approaches, residents can look forward to the completion of The Village Centre. The Medical Centre is already open. A hotel, a performing arts centre, a specialty grocery store, places for artists, restaurants, cafés and bars, public areas for community events and spaces for shopkeepers, creating an authentic Niagara experience, are anticipated. “And the best coffee shop in town,” adds John Hawley.

​Detailed History of The Village

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