Proposed 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.
Tag Archives: St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce
‘The year ahead represents, to me, a bridge to prosperity and a critical shift from past to present’ – Central Elgin Mayor Andrew Sloan
The St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce Lunch with the Mayors gathering is typically a non-controversial State of the Union-type event, more jovial than jousting.
That all changed with last year’s get-together which came on the heels of Bill-63, the St. Thomas Central Elgin Boundary Adjustment Act.
Central Elgin lost hundreds of acres of farmland to St. Thomas for that municipality to assemble 1,500 acres for what would become the Yarmouth Yards industrial park and ultimately the home of Volkswagen/PowerCo and the EV battery giga-plant.
Much of the question-and-answer time slot was put to good use by former Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn to hold St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston’s feet to the fire on her municipality’s lack of involvement in the land deal.
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An answer to ‘Why are we still talking about this?’
We live today in a house so divided. However, yesterday (Friday) over the noon hour at city hall, a hundred or so individuals were able to cast aside their differences and unite in what the colour orange represents.
The sea of orange gathered to commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day.
A day to remember but equally important to learn.
To learn what we were never taught in school.
The dark chapter in this country’s history.
A chapter finally seeing the light of day as a result of hundreds and ultimately thousands of unmarked graves of young children.
Young Indigenous children, the victims of cultural genocide.
Students snapped from their homes and shuffled off to residential schools where their identities were erased.
The last of which closed as recently as 1996.
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‘There’s a lot of opportunity in the region right now,’ but do we have the labour pool to support it?
With two area employers seeking more than 3,500 workers, at first glance, it would appear to be a rosy picture for job seekers in St. Thomas, Elgin county and neighbouring municipalities.
More so in light of two years of economic fallout related to the pandemic.
But there are other factors at play when you consider employers here and across the province are coping with a labour shortage.
We talked this week with Sean Dyke, CEO of St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation to ascertain the impact this will have on smaller firms already hunting for employees.
How easy will it be to find 2,000 or so employees for the Amazon fulfillment centre north of Talbotville plus 1,500 workers for the Maple Leaf Foods plant in south London, both opening next year?
“I do think they will be able to draw from a wide range of areas in the surrounding region,” suggested Dyke.
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The city of St. Thomas to focus on equity, diversity and inclusion both in hiring and the provision of services
Coun. Steve Peters delved into a bit of family history at Monday’s (Feb. 7) council meeting.
Specifically about his grandfather.
But, best we let Coun. Peters recount it in his own words.
“As someone who was born and raised in St. Thomas, and considers himself coming from an immigrant family.
“A lot of you don’t know, but my grandfather, who was born and raised in Canada, had to change his name from Dmytro Pidwerbeski to Dick Peters because he was a foreigner.
“And that has always stuck with me that my grandfather had to do that and he was born here but considered an immigrant.”
The glimpse into Peters’ family tree was a preamble to serious discussion related to discrimination in St. Thomas and Elgin county.
It stemmed from a survey undertaken by the St.Thomas-Elgin Local Immigration Partnership (STELIP) that was an item on Monday’s agenda.
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Spending it well on affordable housing for St. Thomas
The magnificent edifice at the corner of Talbot and Mary Streets, formally known as the Mickleborough building, has had a bit of an uncertain future over the past three years.
It was the former home of Ontario Works before the city purchased it from London developer Shmuel Farhi in March of 2017.
It dates back to the early 1900s and was designed by St. Thomas architect Neil Darrach. Its appraised value at the time of the sale was $4 million.
Under the deal, Farhi Holdings was to donate $2.3 million in exchange for a tax receipt and the city would pay the remaining $1.7 million.
The intent at the time was to partner with the Central Community Health Centre in hopes of consolidating their operations into the structure that once housed the British mainstay Marks and Spencer in the 1970s and Huston’s Fine Furniture into the 1990s.
Added to its functions this year was transforming a portion of the stately building to serve as a day shelter for the homeless.
A far cry from the home of fine furniture.
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Of Mark Twain and the London-centred school board
“You close down a school in a small town and kids suddenly spend hours on the bus going to other communities.” That’s an observation from David Thompson, chairman of the Near North District School Board in Ontario, gleaned from a St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce news release calling for a moratorium on school closures.At the May 6 Ontario Chamber of Commerce convention in Sarnia, member chambers adopted a resolution “supporting a moratorium on closures and for organizations including the Chamber to be engaged by the school boards to consult economic impact.”
In St. Thomas and Elgin, the Thames Valley District School board will decided later this month on a proposal to close schools in Sparta, New Sarum, South Dorchester and Springfield. Sparta would be the first to close and then be re-purposed as a second French Immersion school in Elgin.
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Grant or sponsorship, nixing request the right move
Sponsorship or grant, council made the right decision by not immediately approving a request to financially support a new Elgin Business Resource Centre and St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce awards event.
We dwelt on this last week and our municipal officials hashed it around Monday before turning thumbs down on the $5,000 call for support from chamber president Bob Hammersley, who wanted the process fast-tracked.
This is one more reason why the city should follow the lead of Elgin county council and put the hammer down on all new grant requests.
Ratepayers should not be on the hook to support various causes and events cherry-picked by council for consideration.
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Skateboard park info session likely to open old wounds
A public information session will be held Wednesday at the Timken Centre to unveil plans for the three potential sites for the city’s new skate park.
However, a T-J reader writes to urge one of those locations be struck from the list. Specifically, Jonas Park, which has been promoted as a skatepark venue dating back to 2003.
It is being touted along with the yet-to-be conceived Joanne Brooks Memorial Park on Inkerman Street and the Timken Centre.
Jim Collard has been a resident for more than 40 years in the Ross and Wellington street part of town that encompasses Jonas, Lydia, Verna and Barnes streets and he and his neighbours contend this quiet residential area of St. Thomas is no place to plonk down a skateboard park.
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