Should a Cambridge landmark be revitalized?

Water may once again flow from a Cambridge landmark. CTV’s Krista Simpson takes a look at the push to revitalize a landmark.

A Cambridge city councillor is hoping to bring new life to a city landmark.

For years, the fountains at the corner of Hespeler and Pinebush roads have stood dry.

“You can tell if someone is new to Cambridge if they don’t know what those three monoliths actually are,” councillor Scott Hamilton said.

The fountains were created as part of the Knob Hill Farms store that stood at that corner. It opened in 1991. The grocery terminal shut down in 2000 and the site became a Home Depot a few year later.

The water was turned back on in 2005, but the return was brief.

Jigar Desai is a salesperson who works in the area and said the water features brought joy.

“They used to be a delight,” he recalled. “You see those fountains going, and it just - it makes your day.”

Cambridge historian Paul Langan said the empty fountain is a disappointing sight, and believes the area has lost its lustre.

“This is a focal point when you leave the 401. We have to do something to turn this from some generic road with big box stores into something we can call our own,” Langan said. “This fountain is a small way to soften it.”

Hamilton is taking steps in hopes of revitalizing the area.

He’s preparing a motion that, if passed, will ask city staff to look at a potential partnership with Home Depot to get water flowing through the three towers again.

Hamilton described the area as the spine of Cambridge, pointing out that it’s expected there will be new infrastructure added to the area in the future, including light rail transit to Galt and a GO station heading to Guelph. There are also plans for residential expansion in the area.

Hamilton said the three fountains are a symbol of the unity of Cambridge.

“They were built really to unite Preston, Galt and Hespeler, because it’s at that one spot where all of those key areas of the city are supposed to come together as one.”

In the past, the late Ward 7 councillor Frank Monteiro tried to get the fountains running again.

“He had looked into revitalizing the fountains back in around 2017/2018,” Hamilton said. “At that time there were issues with the piping. The maintenance hadn’t been completed properly. I think that there are issues with sediments that were left being left in the pipes. And so, I think it was quite costly to try and get them moving again.”

“There were talks with Home Depot at that time, but from what I can tell them, nothing came of it,” he added.

Hamilton said any path forward has to be cost effective.

“The key to this is to not raise anyone’s taxes because we’re in an affordability crisis, but look at the reserve funds the city has in place to construct awesome pieces of architecture that are exactly like this, and to look at when we could bring those into play, in a manner that’s feasible.”

In a statement, Home Depot Canada told CTV News the company “has been in touch with the City of Cambridge and looks forward to continuing discussions regarding the fountains.”

It’s hopeful news for those who would like to see some character returned to the corner.

“If you stop at the light now and you look, you go, ‘What’s the point of this?’ Because it doesn’t really have any meaning,” Langan said. “Just the structures sticking up above the ground.”

Desai, whose wife also owns a business near the intersection, said a revitalized fountain will benefit the community in a few ways.

“It will help the people of Cambridge, it will help the businesses of Cambridge, and overall it will look good,” Desai said.

Hamilton said a revitalization project can also look at additional elements, such as LED lights during the day, a projection show similar to the one that is at the Galt Post Office at night, new materials or architecture, signage or flags.

Hamilton’s motion is expected to be presented to council at a meeting in February.