Proposed residential development on land currently owned by the Elgin County Railway Museum is an opportunity to revitalize that portion of downtown St. Thomas, stresses Doug Tarry.
The St. Thomas developer made that observation almost three years ago, and this past Tuesday (Feb. 20) city council unanimously agreed to declare certain parcels of land that partially comprise Jonas Park to be declared surplus to the city and those parcels will be sold to Doug Tarry Limited (DTL) for future residential development west of the Elgin Country Railway Museum.
Back in the summer of 2021, Tarry sought to purchase eight acres of railway land immediately west of the museum at $300,000 per acre for a low-rise residential development that would front onto a new street to be created off Ross Street and north of Jonas Street.
Monthly Archives: February 2024
‘The year ahead represents, to me, a bridge to prosperity and a critical shift from past to present’ – Central Elgin Mayor Andrew Sloan
The St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce Lunch with the Mayors gathering is typically a non-controversial State of the Union-type event, more jovial than jousting.
That all changed with last year’s get-together which came on the heels of Bill-63, the St. Thomas Central Elgin Boundary Adjustment Act.
Central Elgin lost hundreds of acres of farmland to St. Thomas for that municipality to assemble 1,500 acres for what would become the Yarmouth Yards industrial park and ultimately the home of Volkswagen/PowerCo and the EV battery giga-plant.
Much of the question-and-answer time slot was put to good use by former Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn to hold St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston’s feet to the fire on her municipality’s lack of involvement in the land deal.
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‘I will say that it was my intention to continue to be in St. Thomas but sometimes opportunities come up.’ – City manager Sandra Datars Bere to depart for top job in London
We got wind of this just over a week ago and the move was confirmed on Tuesday of this week. City Manager Sandra Datars Bere will assume the same post up the road in London, effective at the beginning of May.
Her last day at city hall will be at the end of April.
She returned to St. Thomas as city manager on Jan. 10, 2022. So, for the second time in about 15 months, the hunt begins for a new city boss.
Datars Bere stepped in following the retirement of Wendell Graves at the end of February 2022.
She served as the city’s director of social services from 2006 through 2010, before moving on to continue her municipal career in London and Bruce County.
Mayor Joe Preston admits the city has big shoes to fill.
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‘Snapshots’, another theatrical chapter in the history of Southwold Township
Southwold Township history comes alive again this spring with a collection of one-act plays and original songs presented at the Keystone Complex in Shedden.
Entitled Snapshots, the production focuses on the Second World War and the RCAF Bombing and Gunnery School near Fingal.
Written by Len Cuthbert, one of the plays mirrors the philosophy of long-time area resident Lorne Spicer, one of the founders of the Rosy Rhubarb Festival, a member of the Elgin Stewardship Council and the St. Thomas Field Naturalists.
He believed life is the train, not the station which is the title of one of the productions, notes Cuthbert.
