Brockville Ontario - The glory days of Brockville's Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) have long passed but some of its former lands have been added to a Railway Tunnel Park vision for the city.
 
With the help of a Carolyn Sifton Foundation grant of $200,000, the city has been able to purchase three acres of former GTR land south of the present Canadian National (CN) rail line to Brock Street, from William Street to Tunnel Avenue.
 
The land deal encompasses the entire block of land from William Street to the gorge at the north end of Brockville's historic railway tunnel, with the exception of the Tim Hortons property on the corner of William and Brock streets.
 
"It really is a bit of a gem in Brockville," the foundation's Graeme Sifton said of the Railway Tunnel Park project on Tuesday.
 
Sifton and fellow foundation member Jay Martin viewed the property and the tunnel gorge Tuesday morning with members of the Brockville Railway Tunnel Committee and representaives of the city.
 
"It's been talked about for 30, 40, 50 years," he said of finding a way to utilize one of Brockville historic sites.
 
Sifton said the tunnel project is a perfect fit for other recent waterfront developments and the land acquisition at the north end, when fully developed, will give downtown a different tourism element away from the waterfront.
 
"It's just a matter of adding to it all," he said.
 
City councillor and chairman of the Brockville Railway Tunnel Committee, David LeSueur, said the committee did the ground work for the land purchase and the foundation recognized its merits.
 
"They saw the vision," said LeSueur.
 
"The committee just put it together on paper. This is a big portion of the Railway Tunnel Park project."
 
While there is a vision for the land, which is essentially the second phase of the tunnel park plan, laid out in a new brochure the committee produced on the tunnel's history and plan for the future, LeSueur said the community will have input on how the north end of the park will look.
 
"These are just concepts," he said.
 
However, the land does have one or two additional appealing characteristics the city is lacking for downtown, parking and space for tour buses to unload and load passengers.
 
"The main features would be the parking and a round house centre," said committee member Mike McClintock, once again adding the community will have a say in how the plan unfolds.
 
"There needs to be some community consultation on this."
 
"We've even talked about having the tourism office here," added LeSueur.
 
"But it's all conceptual at the moment."
 
The committee has been progressing on plans to have part of the Railway Tunnel Park open for Canada's 150th anniversary celebration in the city, in 2017.
 
City council recently approved a tendering process for contractors and suppliers for work on the tunnel and north-end gorge.
 
"The engineering documents have been received for rock bolting and masonry work," said committee member Jack Kenny.
 
"It may be in the spring until we get to this end," he added of gorge work, which would in itself be a major process considering the state of the area now.
 
The Railway Tunnel Park committee is also working closely with the city's Brock Trail committee on plans to tie in both projects at the end of the gorge, under the existing tracks and eventually hooking up with a network to the north end and Mac Johnson Wildlife Area.
 
Some concessions for extending the trail past the tracks to the north will have to be worked out, Kenny said, as there is not enough room next to tracks along the back end of the Brockville Legion property.
 
In the meantime, LeSueur concluded that work on the tunnel itself could begin as early as July if everything falls into place.
 
Darcy Cheek.