Small is Beautiful – Ontario Town Planning Done Right

Some of the Civicplan team had the recent opportunity to visit beautiful downtown Goderich, Ontario.

Situated on Lake Huron, Goderich is a town of around 8,000 people. Of particular interest is Goderich’s downtown civic square, an octagonal traffic circle known as ‘The Square’.

The Square was formally listed in the Register of Historic Place by the Government of Canada in May 2007. The Town had already recognized the value of the area in 1982, under the Ontario Heritage Act.

With its well defined civic space, walkability, heritage preservation with compatible infill, quality urban design, downtown Goderich is an excellent example of town planning done right.

Behind what exists today is an interesting history, both long and recent, that makes this Ontario town even more impressive:

The Square was designed and developed between 1840 and the mid 1890s and in its early days, contained the main office of the Canada Company which helped to develop much of the county. The design of the square – a “radial composition” – is attributed to John Galt of the Company, inspired by ancient Roman city plans. Over the years it was called “Market Square”, “The Square” or “Courthouse Square” by locals. The original courthouse was located here but was destroyed in a fire and replaced by a modern structure in the 1950s.

On the afternoon of 21 August 2011, an F3 tornado touched down in the town, after coming ashore as a waterspout. The devastating storm downed power lines, tore roofs off houses, and left cars and trees scattered along city streets. Hundred-year-old trees surrounding the Goderich Courthouse were uprooted in seconds. The roofs of several buildings ringing the square were torn off. The green space around the courthouse at the centre of the square was littered with tree limbs and trees that had been ripped out of the ground.

A year later, 152 of the 170 downtown businesses had reopened but reconstruction of the courthouse, some historic buildings and the trees in the area took much longer. A visitor to the area nearly four years after the event found that the park had re-opened with a new band shell. New trees, greenery, a statue and a water feature had been installed in front of the court house. Much of the area around the park had been reconstructed including commercial building on Kingston Street and The Square. The last work to be completed was the Kingston block of commercial buildings on Kingston Street and The Square.

-Wikipedia