The redevelopment of Wheatley’s downtown core is moving to the next phase after concept designs were shared with the community over the weekend.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent and the Wheatley Task Force officially unveiled the downtown concept designs on Saturday during Wheatley Waves Forward; a full-day event celebrating the town’s progress since the 2021 explosion.
“For the last year, we’ve been doing really in-depth public consultation with visitors, businesses, residents… and working with our urban planner to figure out what the downtown core is going to look like,” said Kyra Knapp, CK’s economic development officer for Wheatley.
Two design options were presented to the community, which provided a new vision for the downtown core, emphasizing public gathering spaces, accessibility, and long-term community use. Both designs include walking paths, green spaces, seating areas, and play structures stretching along Erie Street between Talbot Road and Elm Street.
“[Wheatley residents] are really looking forward to something that has multiple uses for the space, is sustainably built, has an opportunity to bring people down into the downtown core, so bigger than just a park or a playground,” said Knapp.
During the weekend local residents provided feedback on the designs and shared which one they were the most excited about.
Knapp said the input will be incorporated as they move forward to the next phase of the project. The municipality will now need to draft detailed designs for the redevelopment before moving to tender to find a contractor.
