15 June 2010

City to Start Cleaning Up CP Station

The ex-Canadian Pacific station at Owen Sound.

Owen Sound Ontario - If Owen Sound's mayor had her way, a business would be operating out of the city-owned former Canadian Pacific Railway station right away.
 
But due to delays in buying the building from the federal government and work that needs to be done to it, Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners said she has adjusted her expectations.
 
"I'd love it, if it could be done by Christmas," she said Monday in an interview. "It all depends on what's going in there and what work needs to be done."
 
City council approved a timeline at Monday's council meeting to clean up the building and start the process of renovating it.
 
Council has directed city staff to groom the building's weed-infested grounds and remove debris from inside.
 
Staff will then apply to the Green Energy Fund for 50% funding toward the cost of a study that will determine the renovations needed to turn the east-side structure into an energy efficient business. The city also plans to apply to the provincial green fund for a low-interest loan and grant to renovate the shell of the building.
 
Council also directed staff to seek expressions of interest for the building from businesses and individuals in mid-August. Staff has been instructed to issue a formal call for proposals in September.
 
Owen Sound purchased the vacant station and its property for $153,500, which will be paid over three years. The deal closed in late May, a year-and-a-half after the city put in its offer.
 
The city plans to seek proposals from developers interested in transforming the 1940s-era station into a business.
 
The property has been declared environmentally safe for commercial use.
 
The city is working to have the building designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, which is a condition of sale.
 
Steve Furness, the city's manager of economic development, said there are too many "variables in play" to estimate when a business will be operating out of the old station.
 
"I think we'd like to go as fast as we can," he said.
 
Lovell Stanners said the restoration of the building will be a catalyst for more harbour front development.
 
"It can't but encourage people when they see this kind of development on the waterfront," she said.
 
Denis Langlois.

The ex-Canadian Pacific station at Owen Sound.