It was an evening not for decision-making but for sharing information.
A public information meeting to update the community on the current state of the Elgin County Railway Museum building and an exciting look at what the future could hold.
A well-attended session on Thursday at the CASO station to present an overview of the current condition of the building, with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for the structure.
The takeaway was quite stark. The museum will be closed to the public for an extended period of time to allow the roof to be removed, along with the walls, to determine the structural integrity and undertake remedial action.
And then put all the pieces back together again.
Friday morning, we spoke with Scott Sleightholm, President of Railworks Coalition, to compare notes on what transpired the previous evening.
Category Archives: built heritage
Provincial funding allows St. Thomas Police, in partnership with Changing Ways, to challenge the roots of gender-based violence
Rarely does a day go by that the St. Thomas Police Service media release does not contain at least one reference to domestic violence or intimate partner violence incidents. And the cases are increasing in frequency.
This led to the police service pursuing provincial funding to establish programs to not only assist victims of these crimes, but also to attend to those committing violent acts to avoid repeat occurrences.
Last month, the St. Thomas Police Service received $341,000 in provincial funding to support early intervention efforts to reduce intimate partner violence. The funds will also strengthen victim safety within the community.
The grant is courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Victim Support Grant Program.
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‘The former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital site presents an exciting opportunity to put unused government land back to work, unlocking new homes, parks and local businesses’
In the coming years, in the shadow of St. Thomas, a small town will sprout and grow; its progression unfolding like time-lapse photography.
And its evolution will begin to germinate next week as the Municipality of Central Elgin begins the hunt for “experienced development partners” to play a leading role in turning about 400 acres of land into the largest planned community expansion in the municipality’s history.
The former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital lands in the coming decades will be redeveloped into a community of more than 3,500 new homes, with 9,000 residents, local businesses and parkland.
The hospital opened in 1939, and St. Joseph’s Health Care in London assumed control in 1997 as part of the reorganization initiative ordered by the Health Care Restructuring Commission.
It closed once the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care opened in 2013.
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New legislation gives the St. Thomas Police Service enhanced resources to combat illegal drug activity
For St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp, new provincial legislation designed to ensure safer streets and stronger communities is a step toward reducing illegal drug activity while also providing support for affected communities, promoting safety, and encouraging rehabilitation.Bill 10, the Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act, is a broad ‘justice-and-safety’ omnibus bill passed into law on June 5th of this year.
As noted on the Canadian Mental Health Association website, “An omnibus bill is one that introduces or amends multiple new or existing laws at once. Each new or existing law that Bill 10 impacts is addressed in a separate ‘Schedule’ of the Bill. Schedule 8 is a new law titled the Measures Respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act.”
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A spike in St. Thomas arson incidents sparks calls for action on the catch and release of ‘destructive and violent criminals’
St. Thomas was rocked this week by a pair of arson-related fires, which, thankfully, did not result in any injuries.A blaze early Sunday morning destroyed part of the Acacia Block on Talbot Street, which dates back to 1881.
A couple of young entrepreneurs were close to completing renovations on the building adjacent to the Railway City Transit terminal that would have housed commercial operations on the ground floor and apartments on the second level.
Earlier this year, the ground floor was the campaign headquarters for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton.
Joseph Penfound was quickly apprehended on Sunday morning, and the accused, “a prolific offender,” according to St. Thomas Police, has been charged with arson along with a couple of other offences.
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Indwell’s adaptive reuse of Balaclava Street Public School is ‘a metaphor for life as well’ – Indwell CEO John Neven
“Nobody is better than the City of St. Thomas at being able to make a vision, make it clear, get behind it with an initial investment and then go after and bring along the province and the federal government.”
High praise indeed, and from an individual at home partnering with the city.
Jeff Neven is the CEO of Indwell, a Christian charity dedicated to providing affordable housing and community support, which now owns or operates two housing projects in St. Thomas. Railway City Lofts on Talbot Street above the transit centre and The Station, located on Queen Street.
And on Monday of this week, it was announced that a new supportive housing project is coming to St. Thomas, thanks to that partnership.
The former Balaclava Street Public School will be transformed into 78 units of supportive housing, equipped with essential supports to assist residents.
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“We’re not really trying to truly fix blame, we’re trying to fix the problem – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston on homelessness and housing
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference begins tomorrow (Sunday) and runs through Aug. 21 in Ottawa.
At the beginning of June, we spoke with St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston regarding which provincial ministers were a priority for the city’s delegation.
At that time, the key meetings would be with the Minister of Transportation, Prabmeet Sarkaria to discuss regional transportation; Attorney General Doug Downey to address concerns facing the St. Thomas Police Service; and the new Minister of Education, Jill Dunlop.
The latter was appointed yesterday (Friday) afternoon after the resignation of Todd Smith, in the portfolio for less than three months after a June cabinet shuffle.
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‘You see it all on a piece of paper, but at the end of the day the people who live in those spaces have to love those spaces.’ – Moving on to Phase 2 of Alma College Square
Exactly three years after the great concrete pour at Alma College, preparatory is underway for what will prove to be another record-breaking event.
On June 27, 2020, close to 3,000 cubic metres of concrete was poured for the footings for Phase 1 of the three-tower residential complex at 96 Moore Street known as Alma College Square.
Adam Morris of Sierra Contracting confirmed it was a record-setting pour by quite a margin, involving just under 300 truckloads of concrete in a single day.
The eight-storey building with 156 units has been well received and so the concrete pour for the nine-storey second tower adjacent to the ravine is expected to require close to 4,000 cubic metres of concrete when undertaken this fall.
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This is Mathew’s story: His last gift to mankind was to let someone else live
A ceremony was held Wednesday morning on the steps of city hall to commemorate the third annual International Overdose Awareness Day.
Later in the day, The Nameless, in partnership with Southwestern Public Health, held an open house at White Street Parkette in St. Thomas.
That was where Anna Maria Iredale of St. Marys dug deep into her reserve of fortitude to step forward with her personal tale of tragedy.
We’re documenting it in its entirety as a tribute to Anna Maria and her son.
That’s a photo of him below and every picture does tell a story. This one is well worth the time and effort it takes to absorb.
