Village Squire, 1978-11, Page 11little beyond me."
Mr. Wood says it was probably due to Mr. Matheson's
determination that he got interested again. "I engaged Brian
Garratt of Kyles. Kyles and Garratt (a Stratford architectural
firm) to do a feasibility as to how we could use the space and
came up with our first concept before I completed negotiations
with the city which is very much like what it ended up being with
a centre court idea. We realized that to make the building work
in terms of dollars and cents that we had to get utilization of both
the basement and the second floor and that's why we devoted
that amount of space to the stairway. The only major change
from our original plans was the elimination of apartments.
Originally 1 was going to put apartments on the third floor, 18
studio apartments with kitchen and bathroom and sleeping loft
above. but it just became too difficult to try to combine
residential with restaurant and commercial. "This would have
meant putting in more stairways so instead when development of
the third floor goes ahead in January it will be office space that
will be included not apartments. An elevator is on order and will
be installed to serve the third floor professional offices for
doctors and lawyers etc.
Even after the local enthusiasts convinced Mr. Wood that
there was a real possibility of doing something with the building
the project very nearly didn't come about because of an error at
Stratford city hall that nearly knocked Mr. Wood out of the
bidding. The city had been seeking buyers for the property it had
assembled for a thwarted major redevelpment of downtown for
months and in that time the scope of the proposed sale had
grow.n smaller. Fact sheets were available on the property for
sale by the city but when the two local enthusiasts made
enquiries at city hall for Mr. Wood they were given a year old
fact sheet by mistake. one that included far more property than
%. as actually involved in the city's sale proposals of Sept. 1977.
"1 made my offer. for considerably more of course than I
ended up buying this portion of the building for, and sent a
certified cheque attached. The city didn't even take it seriously.
They d'dn't even acknowledge my offer; didn't send it back, they
didn't do anything with it.
Finally however he did get the right fact sheet and was given
time to resubmit his bid and negotiations started with the city. It
%. as a long gruelling task. he said. His offer was accepted in late
November of last year and he got possession of the building in
April of this year at a cost of $324,000.
Once the proposal for the use of the building was accepted the
next task was not just reconstruction but finding tenants for the
building. "1 really had no tenants in mind when I first bought the
buildings." Mr. Wood said. "1 knew that we had to have a
financial institution on the corner because it was crucial to the
success of the project to have a major tenant nearly S000 square
feet in a prime location and I felt we could attract a trust
company or something of that nature so we always sort of put
aside that block of space (the Gordon block fronting on Ontario
street. wedged between Erie and Downie). The rest of the
project has pretty well ended up the way it was originally
planned. The sizes of stores changed of course but our concept
%. as to have a group of tenants who would work together, who
would complement each other. I wasn't interested in majors; I
didn't want one tenant taking up half the main floor because that
%.ould destroy the integrity of the development. It's not good for
the long term viability of the project.
"I'm really pleased with the tenants we've got. We've got an
'interesting mixture of established businesses such as Gordon's
and Stephenson's and Godbout's who have moved from other
locations to Festival Square and we also have some people from
out of tov. n such as Oxford Books who probably wouldn't have
conte to Stratford had we not given them the opportunity. And
%.e. e got some new people too. So we've got a wide
cross •' .tion."
One of the most noticeable things about Festival Square is the
variely of storefront designs, much as one would find on a
normal main street but much different than in large modern
shopping centres. The outside designs were worked out in
consultations between each tenant and Mr. Wood who did his
1
you dceokate
Draperies & Sheers to accent
each other.
Why not a co-ordinating
bedspread?
Wallcoverings & fabrics
to match or compliment.
Drapery hardware by Kirsch.
Carpets & flooring to please &
enhance.
ENJOY A FEW MINUTES WITH US
AT
THE WELL
and FLOOR SHOPPE
AT
the
Junction
EXETER'S
Largest
Department
Store
235-0270
November 1978 The Village Squire 9