Stratford council votes to retain some control of Grand Trunk site

The City of Stratford has set a course for the next several decades for the Grand Trunk Railway site. CTV's Jeff Pickel explains.

After sitting largely unused for the last several decades, the City of Stratford has set a course for the next several decades for the Grand Trunk Railway site.

The 18-acre property, also referred to as the Cooper Site, sits on the edge of downtown.

This week the city appointed an ad-hoc steering committee returned a recommendation on how the city should proceed.

The primary question was how involved should the municipality be?

The committee laid out three options: having a third party run the site, have it entirely municipality run, or the municipality share the facility with a third party.

The committee recommended the shared facility model. The committee said it allows the city to retain the most control over the project, while sharing some of the costs with organizations like the YMCA and Stratford Public Library.

“The shared facility model offers the best balance of financial feasibility, operational efficiency, and community impact for the YMCA, Stratford Public Library, and the City of Stratford. By co-locating services, this model reduces costs through shared investment and operations while ensuring that Stratford residents benefit from a diverse range of programs and amenities in one accessible location,” said the report.

The report estimates the municipality would require to invest anywhere from $30-60 million in the shared facility model, while the third party facility estimate is in he $2-45 million range and fully municipally owned and operated would cost between $35-$72 million.

Council voted unanimously in support of the shared facility option.

John Kastner, a co-chair of the committee, said history shows the city needs to take the lead.

“To sell the property en masse to the private sector, I think is perilous and I think there’s real risk that comes with it. As a student of history, I can tell you that since 1975 when the CN shops left, it has gone to the private sector three, possibly four times,” said John Kastner, Grand Trunk Ad-Hoc Renewal Committee member.

The long term plan calls for a new Library location and YMCA, housing, parking and other developments.

Despite progress moving ahead this project, the city said this project will be years or decades in the making.