St. Catharines Downtown Association

St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan cast the tie-breaking vote last week to keep discussion alive on a controversial computer model of the downtown.

Councillors were poised to kill the second phase of the 3D visualization of the core, saying it's an unnecessary gadget and not worth the $114,500 it would cost.

But St. Patrick's Coun. Mark Elliott, whose ward includes the downtown, said councillors were making a mistake by killing a project they haven't even seen.

"There is a total misunderstanding of what we are talking about here," said Elliott. "We are ready to vote without even seeing what this project is, and it's an important component of what we are trying to achieve in the core."

A recorded vote to defer discussion on the project until city staff can give councillors a demonstration ended in a tie. McMullan broke the tie in favour of waiting until councillors have seen the computer-generated model before making a final decision.

City planner Paul Chapman said the computer model of the core is an essential tool for a modern city that is trying to attract development -- especially major development.

In the old days, developers and architects would pitch major projects with miniature models of their designs, Chapman said. Today, those designs are created on computers, and architects expect to be able to use actual site data to do their calculations, said Chapman on Wednesday, as he and economic development director David Oakes demonstrated the technology.

St. Catharines paid Niagara College's Centre for Advanced Visualization $125,000 in 2008 for Phase 1 of the computer model, which it has already shown to potential developers, said Oakes at council. It was also used to persuade the provincial and federal governments to contribute $36 million toward the proposed arts centre downtown.

Niagara Region contributed $25,000 toward the first visualization phase and Chapman said the Region is offering to pay half of the second phase, in its efforts to support smart growth in urban centres.

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