Greater Sudbury's planning committee has unanimously approved a rezoning application that would allow for a radical transformation of the Pearl St. water tower.
However, the first stitch of progress residents will see is a number of large art-boards mounted to the tower's legs.
The plan is to convert the tower into a unique tourist attraction that would feature a restaurant, bar and lounge overlooking the city and a number of commercial office spaces.
Before any structural renovation can begin, Cory Prause, the man leading the rejuvenation project, said he must first determine the tower's viability by posting a dozen art-boards directly below the tower's million-gallon water tank.
In order to help make the project viable, Prause said he needs to be able to use at least 12 art-boards, measuring 20 by 32 feet, and would need to start hanging them for at least one-year in order to generate revenue to put towards the tower's renovation.
Once the art-board trial is complete, Prause estimates it may take about $3.5 million (plus the cost of inflation) and more than two years to transform the rusty tower into a commercial space.
Prause, an Australian-born project manager for Hatch Associates, said the difference between a billboard and an art-board is the image. Art-boards are pieces of art using visual elements to get the advertisers' message out, as opposed to words.
He also made it clear he is taking one kick at the can when it comes to turning the water tower into something other than an eyesore. If he isn't able to make the project viable, Prause said he would look into the possibility of either turning the tower into a condominium or tearing it down and selling it for scrap metal in order to re-coup as much of his investment as possible.
Some residents who live in neighbourhoods surrounding the tower, however, aren't happy with the size of the art-boards, the number being proposed to be hung, nor the fact they would have no control over the content.
Pat Charles, a property administrator for Sal-Dan Developments, said she isn't against the idea of a restaurant or a commercial space, but she's concerned the art-boards might be imposing, or in poor taste for the family-friendly neighbourhood Sal-Dan is trying to create.
Another issue for residents living in the tower's shadow was the amount of traffic it might attract, adding further congestion to busy, steep and narrow roads.
One resident told the committee the idea to transform the tower into a commercial space, which he agreed would be a boon for the city, would never fly without road improvements in the area.
Bill Lautenbach, the city's director of planning services, said a traffic impact study still has to done to determine how the tower would affect traffic and whether or not road improvements are required.
Members of the planning committee attempted to reassure some of the concerned residents, saying a rejuvenated tower, as opposed to an old rusty one, would do wonders not only for the city, but for their own neighbourhoods as well.
"Eventually if there are traffic concerns, it's this kind of development that drives the improvement of roads," said Ward 6 Councillor Lynne Reynolds. "And I don't think it's very often that we see a billboard that isn't tasteful, or that's offensive or obscene."
For more information on the project, to see proposed blueprints for the tower, photos of a similar water tower conversion in Lethbridge, Alta., or to see a panoramic view from the top of the Sudbury tower, visit Prause's website at www.sudburywatertower.com.
