Tag Archives: Elgin County Railway Museum

07.12.25
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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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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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05.18.24
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St. Thomas Police Service Diversity Action Plan: Building Inclusive Community Relationships

city_scope_logo-cmykThe St. Thomas Police Service yesterday (May 17) released its Diversity Action Plan. You can view the plan here STPS-Diversity-Action-Plan-2024
The launch of the plan is the “first step of our commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive police service for our members and our community.”
According to the plan, it is to be used “in coordination with our Strategic Plan to move forward on important issues that our community and our members have identified for action.
“When we recognize diverse perspectives and opinions, we can find alternative solutions that, in turn, help to better address issues specific to our community.”
As evident in headlines over the past several years, policing in Ontario and across Canada is undergoing many changes.

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05.11.24
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Can the Elgin County Railway Museum and residential development co-exist? ‘Yes,’ asserts the developer. ‘No,’ responds the neighbour.

city_scope_logo-cmykIt’s coming up on three months since 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 for future residential development west of the Elgin Country Railway Museum (ECRM).
And it’s been almost three years since Tarry declared proposed residential development on land currently owned by the museum is an opportunity to revitalize that portion of downtown St. Thomas.
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.

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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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02.24.24
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‘Always leave the campsite better than you found it’ – St. Thomas developer Doug Tarry on his purchase of downtown railway lands

city_scope_logo-cmykProposed 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.

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12.02.23
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The 2024 St. Thomas draft budget comes in at under a 4 per cent increase. Can city council whittle this down further?

city_scope_logo-cmykCity council begins 2024 budget deliberations on Monday (Dec. 4) and the adjusted tax levy comes in at a 3.76 per cent increase.
Keep in mind this is a preliminary look at the budget and in recent years, council has been able to shave up to a percentage point off the initial levy figure.
The proposed levy for the coming year is a shade under $69 million, which is an increase of $4.2 million over this year.
When you factor in $1.7 million in additional growth-related tax, the levy increase drops to $2.4 million, which is a 3.76 per cent increase over this year.
Contractual increases in wages and benefits – $2.5 million – and wages and benefits for new positions next year – $1.4 million – are the biggest contributors to the tax levy increase. Continue reading →

09.16.23
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As the city readies for rapid expansion, the St. Thomas Strategic Plan is in line for a ‘refresh’

city_scope_logo-cmykAt Monday’s (Sept. 18) council meeting, members will receive an update on the city’s Strategic Plan which covers the period 2021 through this year.
The plan was originally adopted by city council in May of 2013.
The city engaged the services of Fanshawe Corporate Training Solutions in June 2019 to assist in a plan update.
At that time, the idea was to develop a short list of strategic themes for the city’s path forward.
This included a focus group of community stakeholders and a public and city staff survey which included 539 respondents and produced a list of 25 key themes.
In June of 2020 that was whittled down to the Top 10 strategic priorities.
Topping the list was infrastructure, including roads, bridges and sewers.
The Number 2 priority was emergency shelters for the homeless.
And, rounding out the Top 3 was affordable housing.
Moving forward three years, let’s look at today’s updated strategic plan.

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