Railway Museum housing plan 'off track': Neighbours
A petition opposing the sale of lands next to the Elgin County Railway Museum in St. Thomas is gaining ‘traction.’
Neighbours and heritage advocates worry a development will urbanize open space.
But the museum and the developer paint a different picture.
Terry Mason is opposing the plan and has started a petition.
He lives amongst several blocks of heritage homes near the site.
“If we’re going to call ourselves ‘the Railway City,’ what are you doing selling the land?” he asked.
Terry Mason, seen on May 2, 2024. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)
Local developer Doug Tarry has agreed to pay the museum $2.4 million for eight of sixteen (6.47 hectares) it currently holds.
“It’s not parkland. This is actually toxic soil,” Tarry told CTV News London Thursday. “We’ve got to have some way of remediation and to turn into something for people and their families.”
Tarry said it will cost millions more to clean up the space.
But he’s committed to the project and said it will include green areas, “We want to see parkland down here, but as part of an urban park, where we have housing and different things.”
Mason doesn’t agree. He contends larger park plans were scrapped.
“I mean, I’m going around telling everybody we’re going to have a beautiful park here and then we find out, no, no, they want to build 240 apartments,” said Mason.
Doug Tarry, seen on May 2, 2024. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)
For its part, the railway museum wants to be a good neighbour.
Still, Board President Scott Sleightholm doesn’t deny the $ 2.4 million is desperately needed.
“Anything we can do to maintain and restore this building and this museum would be a win for the entire community,” he said.
Tarry predicts it will be at least three years before shovels go into the ground.
It is hoped that expected public meetings between now and then will keep the debate from going ‘off track.’
Tarry said a secondary planning process will soon be underway for the area.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6891799.1715973653!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
NEW What a wildfire survivor says she regrets not grabbing before leaving home
Carol Christian had 15 minutes to evacuate her home during the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. She ended up losing the house and everything inside. Now, she wants to share the lessons she learned.