Repurposing Perth-Andover:

Posted On April 9, 2014

The Economic Factor

Francine St. Amand

I wouldn’t be writing this series of articles if I didn’t believe that there is a strong ECONOMIC case to be made in considering a Naturalized Park – as the foundational concept in the re-purposing of the flood-prone areas in the Village. In the previous two issues of the Blackfly Gazette, I touched on how Educational and Environmental factors would score positively and effectively within the context of this concept.
 
Bob Obsorne’s report (see reference in text box) describes his observations upon touring the village in October 2013 . It is from his observations that he recommended the idea of designating these flood-prone areas, particularly on the Andover side, as a Naturalized Park. If you read his report, you will see his recommendations were based on environmental, economic and social reasons. And common sense. And a very good sense at what is trending in the world for successful ventures.
 

Google ‘naturalized parks’ and you will find several links to places in Canada that have integrated Naturalization in their municipal parks – to a large extent for economic reasons.
 

When I say ‘foundational concept’, I am talking about the basic premise from which to develop something from. The background: It’s like preparing a canvas for a watercolor painting using a background wash technique. It sets the stage for the form and details to come later. It’s about looking at what is already there in those spaces and recognizing its VALUE.
 

Conserving, restoring and redeveloping these spaces where valuable aspects and features remain intact and BE AN INTEGRAL PIECE OF THE VISION for repurposing plan, is an economical and sustainable way to proceed.
 

Conserving and using these assets in the redevelopment plan represents a huge savings in infrastructure capital investment as well as in long term maintenance costs!! The savings is already money in our hands – not reliant on handouts to move forward.
 

For municipalities that are looking to incorporate ‘naturalized’ or ‘wild spaces’ into their parks – and starting from scratch – Andover’s natural and existing assets are TO DIE FOR. Try including waterways, bogs, natural meadows, fertile soil, 100-year old trees, etc, etc, in a landscape plan where they are non-existent. These are extremely expensive or impossible to come by. Especially with 100-year old trees.
 

Like Obsorne said, as far as a Naturalized Park goes – this area in Andover is pretty much already there. Yes, it may need some tweaking, cleaning up of debris, trails & paths defined, information labels and signs put, and removal or control of some invasive plants which do more ecological damage than good. All this sort of work could be done using a sensible, feasible and affordable approach and does not have to be done all at once.
 

In my opinion, the biggest barrier for the people in the community to consider this type of concept comes down to aesthetics. Our cultures have become so streamlined and homogenized that anything in the landscape that is not ‘tickety-boo’ looks ugly, overgrown, neglected – in essences, an eyesore.
 

Getting back to the Educational and Educational factors – once people understand and appreciate ecology and biodiversity their eyes will surely make the adjustments. This is after all, the 21st Century.

 

THE POTENTIAL FOR GENERATING REVENUE – to revitalize our local economy – is just as massive as the potential for upfront and long term savings. In the upcoming issues, the Economic benefits will be discussed in each of the articles related to the remaining factors of Social, Political, Demographics, Technological and Legal. That gives you an idea how massive the economic benefit is – that I have to spread it over 6 articles.
 

And these short articles are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

STEEPLED: Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, Political, Legal, Education, Demographics

STEEPLED is an acronym for a conceptual framework/tool used by organizations to plan, measure and evaluate. Starting out as PEST in the 1960’s, the model has evolved with variations over time: STEP, SLEPT, STEEP, PESTEL, PESTLE or LEPEST. It is a tool used to find out the current status and position of an organization or individual in relation to their external environment and current role. This analysis tool is relevant to any project that an organization undertakes. For the purpose of this exercise I am going with a recent variation (2013), STEEPLED. All the factors are very relevant and correspond well to the subject of this analysis.
The concept of using the Village’s flood-prone areas as a multi-purpose Naturalized Park was proposed to the Village Council last fall.
Go to blackflygazette.com to check out these articles for more details:

Issue # 37 “Tree Talk: Telling the Story of the Village”
Issue#39 “Possible Uses for Flood Prone Site on Andover Side of Saint John River”