12 February 2009
CP Land Called Clean Enough
Owen Sound Ontario - The property under the derelict
Canadian Pacific Railway station on Owen Sound's harbourfront is clean enough for commercial use, the city's environmental consultant
has concluded.
Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners said it now appears the city's purchase will go ahead.
"The biggest hurdle was the environmental and it seems to be minor in nature," she said in an interview Tuesday.
Testing at the property, which has been conditionally sold to the city, revealed no groundwater pollutants and only "minor
contamination" in a strip of old railway ballast three feet below the surface, Tony Crutcher, senior partner with Conestoga
Rovers and Associates, told city council Monday.
"The site is in a very stable form," he said.
The land won't require any clean-up work if the property is used for either a commercial or industrial purpose, he said.
The building may require a small amount of remediation.
The old CP Railway station, a national historic railroad site, was on the market for about a decade.
Offers from private investors have fallen through over the years. Two people who made offers told The Sun Times last month they had
seriously considered purchasing the property, but changed their minds after being told it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
to adequately clean the site and prevent the migration of contaminants from neighbouring properties.
The city will not reveal the final purchase price of the property until the deal closes 13 Mar 2009. Council approved
$50,000 in its 2009 budget for the purchase, but city manager Jim Harrold said the final price will be higher.
The city's offer is conditional upon satisfactory environmental and structural assessments, a title search, and information on the
restraints of the heritage designation.
Ministry of the Environment area supervisor Shawn Carey said the city need only present its environmental studies, proving all
standards have been met, to satisfy the MOE. The agency will only get involved if the property owner wishes to transform the property
into a more sensitive use, such as from commercial to residential. A record of site condition, proving the property is clean enough,
would then be required, he said.
As for the building, Crutcher told council it is structurally sound and the interior has passed all air quality tests. The building
has some asbestos inside, along with mould and lead paint.
"They're relatively minor, but it's something you have to be aware of," he said.
Harrold estimated it would cost less than $10,000 to bring the property up to snuff.
The city plans to offer the building for lease as a commercial business, with the intention of breathing new life into the city's
harbourfront.
"This is extremely good news," Coun. Bill Twaddle said of the relatively clean environmental report.
Coun. Deb Haswell said the building is "just begging for some kind of commercial development," which now stands a much
better chance of proceeding.
"I see the opportunity for that building as being so incredible," she said.
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