Renfrew Ontario - The iconic CP caboose will remain in Renfrew's Howard Haramis Park after a majority of councillors, some of whom at one time favoured sending it to the scrap yard, voted to keep it.
 
The faded old CP caboose that is the centrepiece of Howard Haramis Park in Renfrew will not be leaving the station, but instead will become a community project with local volunteers leading the restoration and long-term maintenance of the rail car.
 
Renfrew town councillor Sandi Heins led the charge in defence of the iconic caboose that was first brought to town in 1993, and by the end of last week's council meeting, she was able to convince a majority of her colleagues not to proceed with removing the caboose.
 
Instead, council allocated $5,000 to an ad-hoc committee, chaired by Heins.
 
The funds, along with money raised in the community, are to be used toward upgrades to help the tourist attraction meet health and safety concerns raised in regards to the removal of lead paint from the caboose.
 
The potential of the caboose being removed was raised in May of this year, when Kevin Hill, the town's director of recreation, presented a report outlining varying options for the caboose.
 
It has been locked up for a few years and is in need of a giant facelift, including sandblasting suspected lead paint off the structure, repairing the roof that has collapsed due to water damage, as well as other upgrades to meet current municipal accessibility standards.
 
Hill said the repairs could cost well over $600,000.
 
Although it appeared council was going to vote in favour of removing the iconic caboose at the time, a last minute appeal by Heins to hold off on any decision until July was accepted by her fellow council members.
 
She then set out to prepare a report for council.
 
Last week, she presented a detailed report, outlining five steps for preserving the piece of railway history.
 
Heins managed to get sufficient support for a motion that will ensure the caboose remains in the park and is refurbished by the community caboose committee.
 
She informed council that a grassroots group, known as Friends of the Caboose and Haramis Park, involved in restoring the caboose, decided on a five-phase approach to the restoration, which served as the template for her report.
 
After presenting the report, members of council had questions about the plan and some were sceptical.
 
But as the discussions unfolded, councillors who had earlier supported the idea of relocating, or selling the caboose as scrap, changed their minds.
 
Mike Coulas and Arlene Jamieson remained against the restoration due to long-term costs, accessibility, and safety concerns.
 
Coates was very animated when discussing the dangers of removing contaminated lead paint and said it was similar to asbestos in terms of potential harm.
 
He also addressed the issue of accessibility.
 
"I don't understand the passion here for a caboose that's old and rusty, but I will give you this. In the future it's going to require just as much maintenance every five years. It's going to require another group of people to get together, refurbish it, give it some lipstick, make it look pretty, for another five or 10 years maybe, But it's still going to be a bill of expense for the municipality and the taxpayer in the end."
 
Bruce McIntyre.