Category Archives: downtown development

07.19.25
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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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08.17.24
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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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07.20.24
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The creative process often starts with a clean sheet of paper, for Andrew and Maddie it begins with an open green space.

Plans are in the works to create a new identity for one vacant downtown lot and rejuvenate a rather forlorn Talbot Street parkette.
The former is the site of the Sutherland Press Building at 606 Talbot Street while the latter is Hepburn Parkette at 446 Talbot Street.
Masterminding the transformation is the team of Andrew Gunn and Maddie King of young & free press in conjunction with city staff and through the assistance of Arthur Lierman Landscape Architecture.
A similar process was undertaken in 2020 which resulted in the formation of Westlake Evans Civic Park adjacent to St. Thomas Public Library.
Gunn points out, “Both sites have incredible potential to be active spots complete with things to see and do, room for special events, and beautiful landscaping, too.

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07.13.24
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The sale of Elgin County Railway Museum land helps it ‘create a strategy for a sustainable future’

Doug Tarry calls the sale of a parcel of land to the west of the Elgin County Railway Museum an innovative first step to revitalize the downtown railway lands.
The deal was completed on June 28 of this year for $2.4 million and a ceremony was held this past Tuesday at the museum to celebrate the move forward.
The St. Thomas developer made that revitalization observation almost three years ago. On Feb. 20 of this year, 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 were to be sold to Doug Tarry Limited (DTL).
In the summer of 2021, Tarry sought to purchase the eight acres of railway land 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.
The land transaction has not been without controversy.

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06.22.24
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Residential growth in St. Thomas to push west from Wellington Road

A week after city council received a growth analysis study predicting the population of St. Thomas will almost double by 2051, members Monday evening (June 17) got an insight into where many of those newcomers may live.
A sprawling residential development stretching from Wellington Road northwest to Major Line is being proposed by two developers.
Landrise Developments/Don West Construction and Lecram Inc. have acquired the majority of land in the Sandymount Development Area with a proposal to add almost 1,500 housing units, including single detached homes, townhouses and high-density apartments.

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04.06.24
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Southwestern Public Health raises a red flag over the province’s move to expand alcohol sales, a step it calls ‘an all-encompassing community health concern’

city_scope_logo-cmykSouthwestern Public Health is airing its concerns as the province moves to expand alcohol sales.
The health unit wants to ensure “the province takes a stronger commitment to the health and well-being” of Ontario residents.
In a conversation this week with SWPH board chair Bernia Martin, she explained, “We originally received a report from staff on alcohol-related harms on our community back in October (of last year).
“And at that time, the board took the recommendations and one of those recommendations was to reply to the province outlining our concerns.”
Other recommendations included a request for the provincial and federal governments to beef up advertising regulations, increase taxes and improve access to treatment.

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03.16.24
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Regional transit to become a reality for St. Thomas: ‘Our goal is to make sure that we can get individuals on to transit’ – Cindy Howard, Middlesex County

city_scope_logo-cmykThe two cities are but 20 minutes apart, but without public transit, getting from St. Thomas to south London without a personal vehicle can be a daunting challenge.
Yes, you can ride share or cab it to the Forest City at a hefty $50 to $60 one way.
It wasn’t always this way. Several operators have offered a service between the two centres including Aboutown Transportation, Grey Bruce Air Bus, the iconic Greyhound and best of all, the London & Port Stanley Railway.

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03.02.24
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Rapid development and expansion prove Element 5 is not out of its element after locating in St. Thomas

city_scope_logo-cmykWith little in the way of fanfare, Element 5 has become a significant regional success story less than four years after constructing its $50 million plant on 40 acres of land on Dennis Road in the city’s north end.
Even more impressive is the fact the company itself has been in existence for less than a decade.
It was founded in 2015 when it purchased a small cross-laminated timber (CLT)manufacturing company in Ripon, Quebec and began production.
Its St. Thomas facility, completed in 2020, is the most highly automated, state-of-the-art mass timber plant in North America.
It can annually produce 45,000 cubic metres of CLT and 5,000 cubic metres of glulam (glued-laminated timber).
A second shift was added in 2021 and last year, expansion of the existing plant began.

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12.16.23
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Celebrating the ninth anniversary of the Grace Cafe . . . a bittersweet moment for founder Ginny Trepanier

city_scope_logo-cmykExactly one year ago, the Grace Cafe celebrated its eighth anniversary with a full house of guests.

That’s what founder and CEO Ginny Trepanier calls those who drop in for food, clothing, comfort and company.

And last Saturday (Dec. 9), on the ninth anniversary, she had this announcement.

“We are coming into a change and I am leaving the cafe and Don (husband Don Trepanier) is stepping down from The Annex, but we have got solid people, Lori (Graves) and Mike (Toth) to take over and run things.

“We have volunteers who are wonderful.”

It was a bittersweet moment for Trepanier. Continue reading →