Dozens of area residents, students and Queen’s University staff gathered in Mitchell Hall late Wednesday afternoon to view plans for a large, five-storey student residence project to be built on Albert Street at the corner of Union Street on campus.

It was the second public information session on the project, which has garnered some opposition from permanent area residents. The last session was held in June.

“As a neighbour, it is important to share our concepts for this build with the local community as early in the process as possible,” Donna Janiec, Queen’s vice-principal finance and administration, said in a statement.

The site was identified for potential redevelopment in the university’s 2014 Campus Master Plan.

According to a news release from Queen’s, the proposed 300-bed, five-storey building is needed to answer forecasts of modest enrolment increases over the next few years.

The building features four sides and has a courtyard in the middle. It will accommodate mostly first-year students as well as some upper-class students.

The release also said the project team is working closely with city officials on heritage elements, neighbourhood and environmental stewardship.

There will be no food service at the residence, which will limit deliveries to the building.

Queen’s is also working with occupants of the five houses on the property that will be displaced by the construction, the release said.

Janiec said in the release that none of the buildings are designated as heritage sites, but the university is taking a “creative approach” to preserve some of the unique look and feel of the area with two of the five houses incorporated into the design of the new building.

Susan Gow, a member of the Sydenham District Association, is not happy with the proposed building.

“I will be affected indirectly by the residence going in,” Gow said while viewing a three-dimensional model of the building and surrounding neighbourhood.

One of her main concerns is that a laneway behind the proposed building could end up being another street party hub.

“We’re afraid that back laneway is going to become another Aberdeen Street, and also the wrecking of the … green space that is there.”

She’s also concerned with the height of the building, increased traffic and future displacement of permanent residents in the University District.

“The amount of traffic that we’ll see, we already have a high traffic amount there,” she said. “There’s just more and more cars and parking problems in that area as well.

“Most of the houses are two and a half storeys, so (the five-storey building) is going to overshadow all of the houses.”

She also said the development will disturb some natural species like birds and a bat colony that frequent the area.

“We’re saying why do they need a courtyard, because students won’t use a courtyard, so why don’t they build it in a different way. Even in a U shape closer to the street would be better than set back as far as they are,” Gow said.

“They said they can get more students in there by having a courtyard, but I don’t believe they can.”

Gow said the construction will affect an underground stream that may spread water onto other properties in the area.

Area residents have had two meetings with Queen’s officials, but Gow feels Queen’s isn’t listening to their concerns.

“When I moved in here, most of the houses were private residences. Now I can count them on one hand,” she said. “So we’re going to lose our city.”

Shirley Bailey of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation is disappointed none of the affected houses on Albert Street are heritage protected, including one that is more than 100 years old.

“It’s unfortunate none of the buildings in the immediate area are listed as designated so there’s no protection for heritage, so I think the residents of the area are quite concerned that some of the buildings are deserving of designation, and by not being designated there’s no requirement for heritage impact statements,” she said.

“So as you can see, it’s five storeys, there’s a big courtyard in the middle, and it’s going to have significant impacts on the dwellings in the immediate area.”

“As a leader promoting sustainability on campus and in the community,” Janiec said, “it is important that we strive for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification in all our new builds.”

If the building is approved by Queen’s capital assets and finance committee, construction could start in the spring or summer of 2020.

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