Tag Archives: Lindsay Rice

09.27.25
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Project Tiny Hope move-in day is Oct. 1: ‘The first phase of residents living, growing and creating the community we always dreamed of’

On June 27 of last year, construction began on the first tiny home to populate 21 Kains Street, where, eventually, 40 such homes and other amenities will provide safe, affordable housing in a downtown neighbourhood community.
A community of more than just housing, it’s a new beginning.
The Project Tiny Hope partnership includes the YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin, Doug Tarry Homes and Sanctuary Homes.
The community will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units to accommodate adults, youth and families.
And 15 months later, the countdown to move-in day is underway for the residents who will call Project Tiny Hope their new home.

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09.28.24
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Project Tiny Hope big build blitz: constructing the ‘best-in-class in North America’

A long-time intrusion on the north side of Kains Street – a rubble and weed-strewn brownfield, the former home of Elgin Handles – has been transformed overnight.
The site at 21 Kains Street is now the city’s Field of Dreams with eight tiny homes sprouting up over three days this week in what was billed as The Big Blitz for Tiny Hope.
From Tuesday through Thursday, teams from Wastell Homes, Collier Homes, Winmar Construction, MP Custom Homes, Mark Thomas, DHP Homes, Woodfield Design and Build joined project lead Doug Tarry Homes to erect walls, add plumbing, electrical, insulation, paint finishes and cabinetry to eight tiny home units situated at the north end of the property now owned by YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin.

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09.14.24
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The St. Thomas Elgin Food Bank: ‘Some days we all feel like we’re drowning’

Over one million Ontario residents last year visited a food bank. That indicator of a surging affordability crisis in the province was contained in data released this past Tuesday (Sept. 10) by Feed Ontario.
Digging further into the report, food banks in the province were visited 7.6 million times over the year, an increase of 134 per cent from 2019-20.
It marks an all-time high and the eighth straight year an increase has been recorded.
Feed Ontario unites food banks, industry partners and communities as it strives to end poverty and hunger.
“When we released record-breaking data last year, we thought that was the high-water mark,” advised Feed Ontario CEO Carolyn Stewart.

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06.29.24
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Shovels are in the ground for Project Tiny Hope: “A great step forward in sustainable, high-performance housing that is also affordable.”

Thursday (June 27) was a highly anticipated day for Lindsay Rice and the other players in Project Tiny Hope.
Construction began on the first tiny home to populate 21 Kains Street where, eventually, 40 such homes and other amenities will provide safe, affordable housing in a downtown neighbourhood community.
A community of more than just housing, it’s a new beginning.
The Project Tiny Hope partnership includes the YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin, Doug Tarry Homes and Sanctuary Homes.
The community will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units to accommodate adults, youth and families.

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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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10.07.23
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Project Tiny Hope in St. Thomas “is the beacon of hope for all in Ontario.” – Associate Minister of Housing Rob Flack

A couple of weeks ago we had a lengthy chat with the province’s new Associate Minister of Housing.
That would be Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Rob Flack and the interview was prior to Premier Doug Ford pulling a 180 on his plan to open up Greenbelt lands for residential development.
So we arranged with Flack to update us on what led up to the policy reversal and what lies ahead for Flack.
We opened the conversation by asking him to recall what preceeded Ford’s announcement on Sept. 21.
“It was an interesting week,” conceded Flack, “a learning week, a growing week and I think a good week for all people in Ontario.
“As the Premier said, the intention was right. We made a mistake. But you know, I’m a great believer that changing your mind for the right decision is not a vice, it’s a virtue.

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09.23.23
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MPP Rob Flack asserts his ‘experience and leadership’ earned him associate housing minister post

city_scope_logo-cmykAt the beginning of the month, Premier Doug Ford announced changes to his cabinet, precipitated by the resignation of Steve Clark who had served as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Paul Calandra was installed as the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Rob Flack was promoted to Associate Minister of Housing with a mandate on attainable housing and modular homes.
Clark had been at the heart of the Greenbelt development scandal, in which it was found he had violated ethics outlines included in the Members’ Integrity Act.
We caught up with Flack a week after his appointment to discuss his new role, however, there have been substantial developments since then.
Specifically on Thursday, Ford pulled off a complete turnaround on his plan to open up protected Greenbelt lands for residential development.

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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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07.15.23
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VW considers the St. Thomas EV battery gigafactory ‘a high-security plant.’ However, Mayor Joe Preston says, ‘I don’t believe so.’

city_scope_logo-cmykWe learned this week that policing services at the Volkswagen EV battery plant scheduled to begin production in 2027 will be provided by an OPP tactical unit.
The decision was made at a meeting in Toronto attended by St. Thomas Mayor and police board vice-chairman Joe Preston, former St. Thomas Police Chief Chris Herridge and current Police Chief Marc Roskamp.
We can assume Preston was representing the city in his capacity as mayor as the police board was not formally invited to the meeting.
Why would they have been?
This policing directive was a foregone conclusion administered at the provincial level.
Although initially hesitant to confirm, Preston stressed the OPP policing request came from the German auto manufacturer.

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