“If you build it, they will come.” It’s not only a line from a famous movie. It’s also the theme for the new Civic Administration Building in the City of Cambridge. Hundreds of people will be drawn to the downtown core when the new building opens next year.

“I think it’s going to be a strong asset to the downtown commodities,” says Greg Durocher, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

The new building will be the home to several hundred city employees. They will move from leased offices at Cambridge Place into new environmentally fresh and friendly confines in January. The new building provides a more efficient layout and better opportunities for customer service. It will include offices for the departments of Community Services, Planning, Engineering and the City Clerk’s office. City Councillors will also be found there too.

Cambridge residents will visit the building to do business with the city. They will then visit area restaurants and shops, giving downtown business owners the incentive to improve.

“It’ll get downtown merchants to reinvent the wheel a little bit,” says Durocher.

The new building will also be a bridge between the past, present and future of the city. It will link Old City Hall with the Farmers’ Market and the Cambridge Fire Museum and Education Centre. The new building will complete a long-awaited downtown square. This square will become a focal point for concerts, special events and other activities, much like Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square or Times Square in New York.

“The Civic Administration Building acts like a necklace that connects the jewels,” says Ward 4 City Councillor Ben Tucci.

“Creating public spaces will bring people down here and will bind it all together. There is a really good story to tell here.”

Some people have expressed concern that the new Civic Administration Building will have a negative impact on heritage buildings. However, experts say that is not accurate and has not happened in other major cities. In fact, by luring people back to the downtown core, the new Civic Administration Building will give the historic heritage buildings a badly needed boost.

“If you don’t make use of historic buildings, they will fall into decline,” says Gary McCluskie, lead architect on the project.

“You’ve got to give people a reason to come and visit older buildings. If you just let them sit and decay, they will eventually fade away.”

One hundred and fifty years ago, another civic administration building project caused controversy in the Cambridge area. Some residents were angry that that building did not meet their aesthetic standards. However, that project went ahead. Today, the result is Old City Hall, which remains one of the strongest pieces of 19th Century architecture in Ontario.

That battle back in 1858 mirrors the concerns that some have for the city’s new civic administration project. But who knows. Perhaps in one-hundred years, people will look back at the new civic headquarters with the same fondness. The fact is, the new building shows the benefits of looking to the future.

Cambridge has been planning for a new civic administration building for many years. Supporters of this project say it’s time the city showed that it is either interested in its core areas, or whether it’s going to abandon them.

Bing Thom, noted Vancouver architect and Member of the Order of Canada, says the successful city is a marriage of public and private realms.

“It's not so much what's important for each individual building but the experiences in the public spaces that make our citizens proud of the cities that we live in. And as we enter into this age of the knowledge economy, in trying to build a creative class of people who live in our cities, it is the public spaces that govern the quality of life for each community.” (Source: Ontario Association of Architects, Nov. 2005)

The new Civic Administration Building will sit proudly alongside the old Cambridge City Hall; drawing residents to the area and revitalizing the downtown core. Provide a new perspective on Old City Hall.

“I think Old City Hall will be that much more beautiful because we’ll have this new modern structure in its landscape,” says Durocher. “It will really stand out.”

Looking to the future to protect the past. It seems a contradiction. But it’s happening in Cambridge. The city is a shining example of how a municipality that shows leadership can make heritage buildings serviceable again.