Brian Marshall, Author at Niagara Now

Arch-i-text: Amalgamation costs less? Some researchers don’t seem to agree

“Quite simply, a bigger organization requires more people, more time and more dollars to produce equivalent results,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Public servants owe us transparency and accountability — and, the Shaw’s towering arrogance

“It is fundamental to the job that the interests of the public are paramount and should be continually demonstrable in day-to-day performance,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Why reusing the old hospital on Wellington makes sense

“The old hospital could become an adaptive reuse example to the world — provided the political will is brave enough to move forward,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Two situations facing the heritage committee this year

“Senior town staff and certain downline staff members were fully cognizant of the actual ‘state of affairs.’ However … it seems that they failed to communicate these requirements to their heritage planners,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Questions about proceedings on the Crysler-Burroughs House

“I opine that the several municipal processes related to proposed and undertaken alterations of this important heritage property have been fundamentally flawed,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: NOTL needs apartment buildings — but, the right ones

“This simplistic design approach to apartment buildings has dominated the sector for decades and has resulted in a quasi-institutionalized environment within the resultant neighbourhoods,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: If development swallows up farmland, who will feed us?

“Food sovereignty and security must be considered paramount in all government policy. Otherwise, we may find ourselves as a banana republic — the beggars at the table,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Some reflections on the year behind us

“In 2025, we have borne witness to a series of assaults on the tapestry of Niagara-on-the-Lake,” writes Brian Marshall, writing about the Crysler-Burroughs property, Glencairn Hall, the Royal George Theatre and more.

Arch-i-text: ‘If not here, then where?’ Not there.

“The basic precepts of good urban development planning place the onus on the local government to proactively identify low, medium and high-density locations,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: The battle of fact vs. fiction happening in our town

“Here in Niagara-on-the-Lake, apparently aided and abetted by several of our elected ‘representatives,’ this narrative has been successfully played out again and again over the term of the current council,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Sign of the times: of gifts, taxes and other things

“If one gives away a million dollars here and there … where does the money come from to make up those losses in order to fulfil the region’s legislated responsibilities?” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Putting into perspective how big the new Royal George would be

“The proposed size, massing and form of the building, considered within the context of the surrounding buildings, completely dwarfs everything else in the heritage district,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: An ode to those who’ve given everything to their country

“On every Nov. 11 since that day, I have shared the evening with a bottle of whisky, those memories and the words that were written down that evening,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: The fallacy of progress

“It is extraordinarily disingenuous for an individual or corporation to suggest that the ‘progress’ they seek — or achieve — automatically confers benefits upon the society or community they operate within,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Political tripe won’t save Niagara-on-the-Lake’s character

“Growth and change in any town may be inevitable. However, those forces must be thoughtfully and consistently managed in order to preserve its unique character and cultural landscapes while evolving into a greater version of itself,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Takeaways from Brian MacKay-Lyon’s lecture on good and bad design

“It’s telling that MacKay-Lyons, whose main body of work is unabashedly contemporary, adheres strictly to this sense of place as derived from understanding its existing (or historic) vernacular materials, building culture and forms,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Let’s review the core principles of good design

“These core principles are neglected, ignored or improperly applied by far too many practicing architects and results in poor designs which, if constructed, assault the public’s senses with inferior built architecture,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Losing our place: How the new Royal George threatens NOTL’s architectural identity

“We are being asked to accept the partial destruction of the Queen-Picton heritage district’s place identity on the very questionable altar of a cultural institution’s ask,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: On delegations, the David Secord House and Parliament Oak’s permit

“Properly executed, the restoration of this vital and unique piece of heritage will stand as a lasting legacy bequeathed to all Canadians,” writes Brian Marshall of the restoration of the David Secord House.

Arch-i-text: Make your voice heard on out-of-control development practices

“As citizens, we have only two formal venues through which we can express our opinion. The first is our vote, once every four years. The second is through our voice,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Old Town’s historic streetscape, the Shaw and other things

“Bluntly, the solutions here are many and varied — all a matter of sympathetic architectural design with delicate treatment of form, massing, scale and materiality, focused on blending in versus standing out,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: The Shaw’s Royal George 2.0 misses the mark

“Far too often a ghost facade prioritizes a superficial appearance over functional reality,” writes Brian Marshall of the new proposal for the Royal George Theatre.

Arch-i-text: A few wins for heritage preservation and good development in our town

“Sometimes the negative ‘press of events’ can lead us to believe that there are no ‘wins’ to celebrate. But, au contraire, there are,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Something is wrong with this picture

“There is an extremely disturbing trend in this province directed at marginalizing, diminishing or outright destruction of our shared history, built heritage and cultural landscapes,” writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: It’s time: Let’s go over the draft of the new official plan

“The more public input that is provided at this juncture, the more likely it is that staff — principally Fiona Main, senior policy planner — will be able to meet their published timeline,” writes Brian Marshall, in the first of a series of columns analyzing the town’s latest official plan draft.

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