DBIA Featured Post: The Pasta Shop

Located just on the edge of downtown Peterborough at 165 Sherbrooke St, the Pasta Shop is a hidden gem that needs to be discovered!

Locally owned and operated by "Pasta" Paul and "Saucy" Sue Leroux, the shop is in its 8th year of business. The Pasta Shop is exactly what it says it is—a Pasta Shop! It offers up to 80 different dishes that are ready for you to take home and enjoy. From fresh to frozen, this store is an Italian food lovers dream. Locally sourced poultry, eggs, and beef dominate the menu and help keep the feeling of community very much alive within its walls!

The shop is open 5 days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday and you will almost always find Paul in the back working away and Sue up front. They aim to be a "homemade with lots of love" type of experience. You can see the passion they have for what they offer in everything they create. This passion can also be experienced at downtown restaurants as The Pasta Shop is an important supplier to many.

As a smaller venue, they depend a lot on word of mouth and have been serving many of the same loyal customers for years. People come regularly from as far as Toronto and Ottawa to take advantage of what they have to offer as an alternative from the big city selection.

Paul and Sue absolutely love Peterborough and its downtown community. From its rivers and lakes to restaurants and entertainment venues, they think this city has everything to offer.

If you haven't been to The Pasta Shop yet, you're most certainly missing out!

For more on The Pasta Shop (165 Sherbrooke St.), go to:

Phone: 705.745.6080
@thepastashop1 on Twitter
Facebook page

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott

PtboCanada Pics: Tree Flowers

Farewell to Cherry Blossoms...

 ... and hello to Apple Blossoms

Special Bonus: Welcome back Lilacs!

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Queen Mary 100th Anniversary Party At ARIA June 1st

Queen Mary Public School is celebrating 100 years in Peterborough with a big party June 1st from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at ARIA. Tickets are $25.

This is a fundraising event for school council that subsidizes programs at the school such as the breakfast program, playground maintenance, garden supplies, upgrades to the auditorium (built in 1943), and much more.

Mark June 1st on your calendar.

[QUEEN MARY 100]

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Look At The Concept Plans For A Downtown Public Square/Urban Park

In an effort to stimulate creativity, capture opportunity and direct priority, the Central Area Master Plan hopes to update the "historic heart of the community". One of the focuses is the Louis Street Parking Lot, which is municipally owned and has relatively low utilization.

The City hopes to revitalize this space by creating a Public Square which will still be used for Farmers' Markets and also include a stage, an outdoor skating rink in the winter, and that could host other events such as Ribfest and seasonal festivals.

EDA Collaborative Inc has provided concepts of what the Downtown Urban Park would look like at a meeting at the Peterborough Library last night (May 9th).

If you have feedback for the final draft of the preliminary design, send your comments to Brian Buchardt, Planner, Urban Design, before May 17th.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Watch: I, the Mountain's Music Video "Land" Filmed In Peterborough

[YouTube, I, the Mountain Facebook]

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PTBOPics & Coverage: Canoe Museum Town Hall Meeting

There was a great turnout for the Town Hall meeting at the Canadian Canoe Museum last night (May 8th). James Raffan (Executive Director) introduced us to Jon Linton from TCI Management Consultants, whose team will be spearheading this redevelopment in conjunction with Reich & Petch (who have worked with museums in the past such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Canadian Museum of Nature and the Ontario Science Centre); the Architects and Designers; and KCI International (they've already completed successful fundraising efforts here in Peterborough), who will be crafting the fundraising strategy.

Jon Linton mentioned that they were hoping to engage as many people as possible with this study, to help develop the roadmap. By setting five benchmarks, they believe the Museum will prosper...

1. Location (visibility, accessibility, etc)
2. Good building design
3. Exhibits and programming (they believe each year a new program should be introduced to bring people to the museum)
4. Economic engine (they would like to pitch the museum as a driving force for Peterborough growth)
5. Loyal constituency (membership drive, etc)

The roadmap is as follows: They hope to complete the study by July 2013, which means the board can approve/decline in October; a Business Plan and Schematic Design will be drafted by January 2014; a fundraising campaign can run from March to December of 2014; construction will be from January 2014 to May 2017; and the Grand Opening is estimated to be July 1, 2017.

TCI is hoping to grow the museum on a national level, and attributes the popularity thanks to community pride and the fact that it is a hidden gem. If it is indeed built downtown, it could be a catalyst for downtown growth, and used as a package (i.e. with the art gallery and other neighbouring landmarks) as a package. To do this, they see the need to increase visitors and broaden the audience. The estimated construction cost is $41 million. The annual viewership at the current museum location is 25,000 people and they hope to increase it to 40,000 to 50,000.

TCI is still considering sites outside the downtown area and welcome feedback for alternate locations. One attendee asked if it was possible to consider Peterborough County (such as Hope Mill) instead of the City of Peterborough, and Jon Linton was more than happy to look into the matter as long as it met the five key benchmarks. Essentially, a proposed location had to consist of two key points: A downtown location + waterfront location or an outside location + waterfront location. Trent University was even been brought up in discussion.

Other considerations they envisioned focused on multiple use of the property (such as commercial or condo residences to offset the cost of museum). Downtown revitalization came up time and time again throughout the night and seemed to be key in their plan. Worst case scenario, they are still asking what can be done with the current location?

TCI felt moving the museum out of the Peterborough area would hurt it, although they are quite aware that parking is an issue downtown and that it is difficult to create a connection to a larger outdoors experience there.

Within the groups at our tables, we were asked to answer five questions that pertained to the positives and negatives of locating downtown, and asked for feedback on what we would like to see in a redesigned museum. Some of the popular feedback was...

• A greater connection to the Aboriginals
• Connection to day camps
• More interaction with kids
• Tie in to RT08
• Tie in to canoeing organizations
• A bigger online presence
• Programming to engage all ages
• Partnerships

And the one that got the largest chuckle from the crowd...

• Have Justin Trudeau/Justin Bieber make a guest appearance

If you couldn't attend last night's meeting, you still have time to complete the online survey to provide your feedback.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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James McKenty On Cassettes, Vinyl & The Craft Of Writing Songs

[Seventh Fire Series]

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Deets On The 20th Annual Charity Fireworks Sale

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PTBOPics & Coverage: Jane's Walk 2013 Peterborough Creek Mystique

Peterborough had five Jane's Walks this year and we attended the Creek Mystique walk which was guided by Kim Zippel and Gina Varrin. This walk was to introduce us to the importance and historic past of Jackson Creek, which runs through the heart of Peterborough.

As everyone gathered to set off on the hike, there was a funny moment where our walk guides had to stop midstory until a noisy car had finished driving by, and yet nearby bicycles proved to be quite unobtrusive. Perhaps a nod to Jane's thoughts on urban lifestyle.

We learned that the Oak Ridges Moraine to the West supplies the headwaters for Jackson Creek and the creek itself is 155 km long. It even supplied water to local mills who processed Red Fife Wheat back in the 1840s, which is a living artifact that is part of Canada's living history (and can still be found in a locally brewed beer).

The walk had numerous stops along the way to point out changes over the years, to both the creek itself and the surrounding area. As we build up the city (i.e. more roads and development, less trees) there is an impact on Jackson Creek and its biodiversity. Man-made objects such as Gabion Baskets have been placed along a high ridge to keep the hill at bay, but as we learned later in the walk, while they are effective they might not be the best choice for a diverse ecosystem. With the natural riparian area displaced, we loose things such as filtration and a root system that prevents erosion.

One of the interesting projects that happened after the 2004 Peterborough flood was that of a downtown Peterborough business that was almost swept away due to erosion. The Otonabee Region Conservation Authority oversaw the restoration of the Jackson Creek banks next to this business. Cedars were harvested alive to keep the roots, with the hopes that they would grow back into the bank and help stabilize it. Stone, rock and rebar was used to help fortify it, and so far it has been successful (and a fairly new idea).

If you live downtown Peterborough, you might forget that the creek is even there, but you can see it disappear under the city at Brock Street and Alymer.

In 1955, there was a plan put forth to "daylight" the creek, which meant to expose sections of it to daylight. Again, this would help the riparian area, but as our walk leaders opened the idea to conversation we all agreed that it would also help the natural well-being of the public. The flowing water helps lift the moods of those within earshot, is visually appealing and could be made into a public attraction.

Kudos to the very knowledgable Kim and Gina and the Peterborough Field Naturalists for organizing this walk. Not only did they have plenty of historic tidbits, but in true Jane's Walk fashion they opened every thought for group conversation. There were no "wrong answers" and it made for very light and interesting discussion.

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) was an urbanist and activist who envisioned cities as ecosystems that changed over time. She felt that it was better for both community and your own personal health for less auto infrastructure, and more of a diverse, greener, interactive community. You can read her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities and take part in the Jane's Walks which run every year in her memory.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Take A Bike Ride Through Jackson Park (And See A Turtle)

[YouTube]

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