The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 20 Arts and Ideas Wednesday July 17 1991 Unionville a place to be copied Twenty years ago the Region of York had plans for a fourlane highway that would have done away with the Main Street of the village of Unionville near With some striking ex emptions Unionville was at that time an accumulation of quite ordinary old buildings most of them in need of repair and freshening up The planners thought it no great loss if the village street with its helter skelter look and ir regular road allowance was removed to make room for a wide highway and the usual modern strip development of fastfood restaurants service stations and plazas Fortunately some of the in habitants thought otherwise They fought the highway scheme and forced the region to build a bypass instead This was the beginning of present day ville a place I had heard much about but never visited until last week When you come into Unionville you have difficulties believing this is a village in Ontario close to Toronto What is totally missing is the desperate ugliness of the usual shopping strip in the Toronto area The shopping strips around here are strictly places for com merce Not a penny is spent to make the street itself as well as the parking lots attractive Not a flower or tree or bench or foun tain is in Sight anywhere On our Delrex Plaza here in town for in stance we have flowerbeds that are filled with tar I cannot im agine that anybody would go tc these places to have a good time You drive there do your shopp ing trundle your cart full of plastic bags to your car and get the hell out No wonder we have the problem of vandalism The armies of unemployed youngsters must be maddened by these sterile surroundings We must show them that we can create beauty worth preserving and caring for In Unionville by comparison you want to linger forever Like our old Main Street here ir Georgetown Main Street has grown over many years and because of that it is now a lesson in history But the merchants of have done one better They declared the whole street and the surroun ding area a heritage district This done they started to transform the street by careful renovation and new additions into the kind of place you want to return to and wander around in after you went there Graduate Donald RJ Anderson graduated with Honors from the Rehabilitation Worker Program at Humber College on June 18 During his studies he receiv ed two awards for academic and professional excellence Ac companied by his guide dog Eager Donald is currently com peting for a position within the provincial Governments Public Service Congratulations to Donald and Eager love from your family Ideas and The Arts by John Summer for the first time As it is I can hardly wait to get back there for the Unionville Harvest Festival on September 21 The moment you park your car on one of the nicely tended tree- shaded parking lots you en counter delightful things you want to photograph and in this way take home with you A pro fusion of flowers and shrubs dai ly watered and looked after by gardeners flowers in hanging and standing pots as well as in beds and window boxes Also outstanding shop signs carved in wood or fabricated in metal ar tistic window displays cool beer gardens many indoor and out door restaurants a mill with a turning wooden wheel and cafe terraces studded with colorful sun umbrellas as well as many fine old buildings lovingly restored and added to Everywhere are benches for the footsore and in good weather the merchants come out and chat with you when you are resting in front of their shops None of the tourist villages like Elora and St Jacobs to name two comes close to Unionville in my opinion Could we here do as well I am sure of it The merchants of Main Street in Georgetown made a brave beginning What is needed now is more of the same as well as imaginative apartment houses downtown that continue and enhance the unique flavor of the place The wrong kind of develop ment high rise buildings for in stance could quickly destroy what has been done so far On our way home we stopped in downtown Bolton to have a look at the Courtyards of Caledon This is a new shopping centre with the difference being it is not standing in a field somewhere but has been integrated into the fabnc of Bolton The place has been given an in stant patina which made me think that it was an old building recycled but it is brand new A lot of good ideas are manifest in this venue There are trees and fountains and terraces with benches for sit ting in the sun There is an feeling about the place that is very pleasant It is a very development and I came home with a splendid set of photographs But is has nothing but shops and offices What is missing is the people who live right there THE CORPORATION OF THE Town of Halton Hills Ho on Hills P Box 128 HALTON HILLS Georgetown Ontario L70 8732600 CONTRACT P91C3 RECONSTRUCTION OF MAPLE AVENUE CNR HALTON SUBDIVISION TO RIVER DR Sealed tenders clearly marked as contents chasing Department at the Civic Centre I Halton Georgetown until 12 noon Local Time Tuesday July 30 1991 for the Reconstruction of Maple Avenue I be received by the Hills Drive Holton Hills 4400 cubic metres 3 tonnes 1890 tonnes 430 tonnes 800 linear metres square metres IS metres 3l0metres metres 440 linear metres 4850 square metres The major items of construction are Earth Excavation and Grading Granular B Granular A Hot Mix Concrete Curb Concrete Sidewalk 750 mm Storm Sewer and related structures mm Storm Sewer and related structures 1050 mm Storm Sewer and related structures 300 mm and related appurtances Sod and Seeding Plans Specifications and Form of Tender may be obtained from the office of the Towns Purchasing Department upon payment of thirty dollar 3000 nonrefundable deposit A certified cheque in the amount specified in the tender documents must accompany each tender Inquiries relating to the should be directed to Mr Goddard CET Engineering Technologist Engineering Department at exten sion 310 or Mr J Lyle P Lea Associates at 2999050 Tenders will be opened at pm Tuesday July 30 at the Civic Centre 1 Halton Hills Drive Halton Hills Georgetown Those submitting tenders are invited to attend Lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted Town of Halton Hills Box 128 Halton Hills Georgetown Ontario Ad No L7G WIN On Now PRICE BACK ON YOUR PURCHASE TO Civics i Accords Preludes MUST SELL THE NEXT CARS sold HALF THE PURCHASE PRICE up 10 jallfylng You In Contest rules are availaole at dealership Contest ends upon sale and delivery of 100 vehicles or December 11th 1991 see us for details