Getting to know Galt, and heritage planning.

The CUSP class has had a few busy weeks of preparation for their proposals. The teams are well on their way to responding to the City of Cambridge’s RFP.

On October 4th, the class took a field trip to Galt to meet with City planners and to tour the study area. While the afternoon started off with a downpour, it ended up being a really informative visit. Dr. Sharpe led the students on a walking tour that passed by some key industrial and commercial properties that are being considered as additions to the Heritage Register.  Many of the students have little experience in Cambridge, so this tour allowed them to get to know the area and visualize what they will be working towards.

Galt walking tour

By coincidence, the Cambridge Oktoberfest was on the same day as our visit so the class was able to participate in some community activities and were treated to some German food. They also were able to meet with City of Cambridge staff, April Souwand, Manager of Policy Planning, and Laura Waldie, Senior Heritage Planner. The groups introduced themselves to the planners and were given an introduction to the RFP. We will be working together more as the project unfolds.

CUSP Class of 2017 in downtown Galt

In class on October 18th, Leon Bensason, from the City of Kitchener’s Cultural Heritage Planning department came to the class to discuss the process of building a Heritage Property Register. His knowledge and experience in this area brought the students a wealth of information for their projects. He walked the class through the process and evaluation criteria that Kitchener used to build their Heritage Register as well as provided a lot of useful information.

The groups also came up with their names and logos this week. We have:

• Heritage Urban Planning Cambridge
• Castlewood Consulting
• Ivy Consulting
• Great Lakes Heritage Consulting
• Legacy Consulting

In the next couple weeks, the class will be narrowing in on the development of their proposals to respond to the City of Cambridge. We are all looking forward to hearing their ideas.