11 July 2007
Friends of the Roundhouse Rally for Rail Museum
Toronto Ontario - "Friends of the Roundhouse"
are calling for a
Rail Museum at the CPR Roundhouse, which has been designated as a national
historic site. Currently the City of Toronto is planning to turn the
Roundhouse into a Leon's discount furniture warehouse.
"I think the people who live, and visit here would get the biggest
benefit from a Rail Museum," says David Crombie. "The Roundhouse is an old
rail building. It seems logical to make it a museum to preserve and promote
our rail history."
In 1997, the City agreed to preserve the roundhouse as a Rail History
Museum. Now, ten years later, Toronto's Culture Department has outsourced its
decision-making to a private developer, who has scaled back the museum project
to a fraction of the original size to accommodate its proposed new tenant,
Leon's Discount Furniture Warehouse.
"This seems to be a natural fit for a rail museum since it's already a
well established tourist area," says Paul Godfrey, president and CEO of the
Toronto Blue Jays.
"We're all for a rail museum," says Jim Aldridge chair of the Toronto
District Entertainment Association. "A rail museum is a unique attraction, and
a perfect fit for this area."
The old roundhouse rail building is near the Rogers Centre. "The presence
of the Rail Museum provides a strong historic balance for our neighbourhood,"
says Bob Hunter, executive vice-president of venues and entertainment at Maple
Leaf Sports & Entertainment and a board member of Tourism Toronto. "The area
between Air Canada Centre and Rogers Centre experiences heavy pedestrian and
tourist traffic, and the Rail Museum is a unique destination that serves as a
gathering place in this area of the city."
The City of Toronto has already threatened to have a 1948 CP Rail engine,
now housed at the site, hauled away by a scrap metal company. The engine is
being restored by railway buffs Doug and Don Lister, and Steam Whistle
Brewing. With more than 60,000 visitors coming through Steam Whistle's doors
annually, the engine has become a popular stop on the brewery's historical
tour of the roundhouse.
"Friends of the Roundhouse" have joined the chorus of Torontonians,
including CP Rail pensioners, who are urging City Council to do the right
thing and review the appropriate use of the Roundhouse.
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