Category Archives: Municipality of Central Elgin

08.29.26
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A future Railway Lands District should celebrate local heritage, enhance parks and trails, create spaces for people of all ages, and strengthen downtown St. Thomas

A significant number of concerned city residents gathered at the CASO station Wednesday afternoon for a public information centre on the future development of the downtown railway lands (see map) over the next 25 years.
The Preferred Master Plan will identify areas for development and redevelopment, permitted land uses, transportation and mobility connections, parks, public service/community uses, and infrastructure strategies.
All of this while recognizing the historical significance of the railway lands and the Downtown St. Thomas Heritage Conservation District to ensure an appropriate transition of new development to low-rise residential areas.
In part, this is prompted by the recent sale of a parcel of land at the Elgin County Railway Museum to Doug Tarry Homes for a planned residential development.

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08.22.26
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Railway City Brewing is back on track with the return of ownership to St. Thomas

Earlier this month, Railway City announced it has signed an agreement to return the brewery to local ownership.

This marks the beginning of a new chapter focused on celebrating its roots, investing in its future and strengthening its connection to the community.

The new ownership group includes founder Paul Corriveau and the current Railway City Brewing team: Darin Tucker and Jeremy Tokarcyzk, as well as Bryan White and Becky White.

Entertainment Arts Research Inc., a U.S. diversified beverage and media group, put in an offer to acquire Railway City Brewing in 2022. That fell through, and instead the brewery was acquired by SymBev, a Toronto-based adult beverage company founded in 2021 that also picked up the beer brands CRANK Lite Lager of Oakville and Locker Room Lager out of Toronto.

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08.15.26
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Imagination Station art installation at Yarmouth Yards industrial park in St. Thomas speaks to the past, while connecting to the future.

A colourful, circular sculpture surveying the cars and trucks rushing past on Highbury Avenue is a whimsical reminder of the city’s railway heritage while cleverly linking it with the industrial revolution underway in St. Thomas.
Titled Imagination Station, the 25-foot-high wooden toy train is local artist Briony Douglas’ first permanent public art commission (seen below with St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston).
The Woodstock native has had her installations appear at cultural institutions and link with international brands across North America, including Cadillac, Adidas, American Express, Shake Shack, and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
And now her latest work graces the gateway to the city’s industrial park, Yarmouth Yards.
Imagination Station was assembled and unveiled at a ceremony Thursday afternoon at the intersection of Dennis Road and Highbury Avenue.

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08.01.26
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‘With every milestone reached, we sustain St. Thomas’ growth for decades to come.’ – Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

For a glimpse at the shape of things to come for St. Thomas, simply drive to the perimeter of the Yarmouth Yards industrial park.
An equally dramatic preview is now available through the transformation of the road infrastructure on the western doorstep to St. Thomas.
The Talbotville Bypass (photo below) has rapidly displaced the farmland between Wonderland Road and Hwy. 4 north of Talbotville and is due for completion by the end of next year.
And this past week, the twinning of Hwy. 3 in St. Thomas was officially launched with a ceremony on the roadway, just west of the Centennial Avenue roundabout.
Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Rob Flack was joined by Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation and Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, on Tuesday morning to announce the start of advance work, including utility relocations and grading.

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07.25.26
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Re-imagining Hepburn Parkette in St. Thomas to support ‘daily use as well as organized events and programming’

Two years ago, the planning process was underway to rejuvenate a rather forlorn Talbot Street parkette so it could again contribute to life in the downtown core.
Masterminding the transformation was the team of Andrew Gunn and Maddie King (below in the photo) 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.
Two summers ago, the pair were at the stage of gathering input from community groups and residents.
“We started a process with the city over the past year or so,” noted Gunn, “and really the idea is here are some open green spaces in the downtown and what could be added to make them active, vibrant spots for the downtown to help bring residents and visitors here.”

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07.04.26
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‘I don’t think there was a single conservation authority that wanted to be forcibly combined with any of their neighbours’ – Catfish Creek Conservation Authority board chair Morgaine Griffin

To Premier Doug Ford, it would seem that conservation authorities are annoyances that just get in the way of the province’s land developers.
And so, it is full speed ahead with consolidating the current 36 authorities into nine regional authorities.
Under the original consolidation scheme, much of southwestern Ontario would have been lumped into the Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority, which would have covered watersheds draining into Lake Erie, including the Thames, Grand, and Sydenham systems, supporting agriculture, industry, and shoreline communities.
In November of last year, we spoke with Dusty Underhill, General Manager of the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, who conceded the word ‘consolidation’ is certainly not music to his ears.

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05.02.26
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These investments in education ‘reflect the remarkable growth we are experiencing in St.Thomas’ – Mayor Joe Preston

It was a red-letter day for education in St. Thomas and Southwold Township this past Tuesday.
The province announced a $1.8 billion investment to build and expand schools across the province, with more than $80 million in funding earmarked for three new area schools.
Of that total, almost $44 million will be spent on a new high school with a capacity of 703 students to replace Arthur Voaden Secondary School.
A new 412-place elementary school with 49 licensed child care spaces valued at $22 million will be built in Talbotville.
And, in a joint venture between the Thames Valley District School Board and Ecole scolaire Viamonde, a new French elementary school, with room for 262 students, will share the same site at a cost of almost $16 million.
The local funding is part of a $92 million investment announced Tuesday morning for new and expanded schools in Thames Valley.
No details were announced on the exact locations of the three new facilities.

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04.25.26
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St. Thomas relaunches program designed to assist low-to moderate-income households purchase their first home

After a hiatus of nearly six years, the City of St. Thomas is reviving the St. Thomas-Elgin Affordable Homeownership Program (AHP), originally launched in 2007.

The AHP was designed to assist low-to moderate-income households in purchasing their first home.

This AHP was originally funded as a one-time allocation under the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program.

It is worth noting that since its inception, 46 households have successfully achieved homeownership through the initiative.

So, how does the program operate?

In her report to council at the April 20 meeting, Ellen Hickey, Supervisor of Housing Stability Services, explained, “AHP provides down payment assistance in the form of an interest-free, forgivable loan over a 20-year period to help eligible St Thomas-Elgin households transition from renting to home ownership.

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02.28.26
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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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