Advocates hope Indigenous community hub will be part of public engagement on Charles Street Terminal

The Region of Waterloo wants to know what what residents have in mind for thefuture of the former Charles Street Terminal in downtown Kitchenerand Indigenous advocatesBangishimo Johnston and Amy Smoke hope an Indigenous community hub is part of the conversation.

Johnston and Smoke presented their vision of what a community hub could look like at the terminal earlier this month at regional council. Itwould includes gathering and entrepreneurs spaces and services like a health clinic, housing and daycare.

Thecommunityhub wouldbring other Indigenous organizations together to create a centralized location for services and the Charles Streetlocation is accessible for people, Johnston said.

Johnston adds they arecurrently using the pavilion space at Victoria Park because they closed Land Back Camp at Laurel Creekfor the winter months.

"We're struggling for spaces to gather and to come together in ceremony," they said.

Johnston and Smoke, however, said they are aware the terminal is prime real estate and they're not the only ones with ideas for its use.

"We've read the comments and we're really aware of what people want to see like, grocery stores, a gym or more business spaces or another condo," Johnston said, noting affordable housing has also been a hot topic.

Johnston saidtheir Indigenoushub's planhas dedicated spaces for affordable housing unitsand transitional housing.

"Nearly 50 per cent of folks experiencing homelessness are Indigenous in our community and that's a huge need," Smoke said."Affordable housing is definitely something we want to look at within the space."

Matthew Chandy, director of economic development for the region, said the engagement process will seek broadinput from different community members and stakeholders including Indigenous communities.

"We're looking at a very inclusive process and that's one of the key values of the redevelopment of the site," he said.

Chandy said public input on the Engage Waterloo Region website is just the first step in the consultation process. He said there will also be in-person and virtual sessions that the community can take part in as well.

The survey will open Friday and people can share their thoughts until the end of the year.

Open to other options

Smoke and Johnston said their first choice is to put the hub at the Charles Street Terminal, but they are also open to sharingthe space with other developers or organizations.

Smoke said the regionhas said there may be other surplus land available in the region, and theyexpectto meet with the region to discuss other potential locations.

"We definitely want to look at what they think is extra land and what we can do around getting that back for the indigenous community, but it doesn't have to be the CharlesStreet Terminal," Smoke said.

The terminal is currently being used as a COVID-19 testing centre for Grand River Hospital. The regionsaid itwill continue to serve the community as a testing centre until the end of the year, and possibly longer.