City Welcomes Environmental Design Expert to Study Downtown Core

The City of Kenora is pleased to announce that Steve Woolrich has commenced his three-month residency in Kenora to analyze community safety issues in the Harbourtown Centre. Steve is the owner of SMW Consulting Solutions and Founder of the Safer Communities Collaborative. He is an award-winning professional serving clients throughout Canada for more than two decades.

In the 2024 Operating Budget, City Council approved the residency project to bring expertise to the City to better integrate and appreciate the links between safety, design, planning, and health. The project considers how the built environment contributes toward positive or negative community health and well-being. The residency started on May 1 and runs through July 31.

Woolrich uses a Full Spectrum Community Safety and Well-Being approach to his work, fusing best practices, including CPTED, Placemaking and Healthy Built Environment tools. CPTED is based on the premise that the proper design and effective use of the built environment can lead to a reduction in the fear and incidence of crime, and to an improvement in quality of life.

“Thank you to everyone who has interacted with Steve since his arrival, and we look forward to the positive and workable recommendations resulting from the CPTED project. We are delighted to have Steve in Kenora for an extended period to imbed himself in our community, meet people, and learn about Kenora. By investing in a three-month residency project, we are confident Steve will have many opportunities to understand the nuances of our community for his study”, states Mayor Andrew Poirier.

Already Woolrich has been walking the streets, meeting people, and engaging with businesses.

“It is fabulous to see how welcoming Kenora has been. This three-month residency allows for taking stock of all the great community attributes with fresh eyes. This program relies heavily on the input of the community to co-create solutions to issues that matter to all. It makes the connection between design, planning and health to address complex community concerns allowing us to co-create the places and spaces that we can all enjoy safely” explains Woolrich.

Additionally, Woolrich will train a cohort made up of City staff and community members in CPTED.

This project also complements the City’s Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) planning process, where the findings will help inform recommendations for the CSWB plan. City Administration anticipates presenting the final report to Council in December 2024 for approval.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Steve’s expertise support us with this journey. Our community is looking for leadership in community safety and well-being and the City intends to capitalize on Steve’s expertise through staff training and idea generation as well as his observations and recommendations. His insights will be critical in helping us chart our course forward toward a safer community” states Kyle Attanasio, Chief Administrative Officer.

A busy three months is planned for Woolrich, including a meet and greet session from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. this Friday, May 17, at Cottage Time for the business community facilitated by the City’s Economic Development Team.