A re-created L&PS Railway Station - Date/Photograher unknown.

10 May 2012

All Aboard for Railway Restoration

Plans for revitalization of the downtown London & Port Stanley Railway corridor, intended to evoke St. Thomas's railway heyday, are steaming ahead like a locomotive.
 
St. Thomas CAO Wendell Graves hosted an information session for local media and project stakeholders including the Downtown Development Board, The St. Thomas & Elgin Home Builders' Association, and Port Stanley Terminal Rail on Tuesday at the proposed project site.
 
There, visitors were provided a news release detailing the project which would restore the city's historic L&PS railway corridor from Wellington Street north to Kains Street.
 
The plan, still in its conceptual phase, includes:
 
·  Reinstalling the L&PS Railway Station (re-created by the St Thomas & Elgin Home Builders' Association for the 2010 International Plowing Match);
 
·  Laying tracks connecting the corridor to the Canada Southern railway station, Elgin County Railway Museum, and to Port Stanley; and
 
·  Constructing a new pedestrian and bike path.
 
Graves told the T-J Wednesday he thinks the project, included for consideration in the city's 2012 capital budget, will end up being a great addition to the city's centre.
 
"It would re-establish a really interesting heritage project that was within the city for a long time and could really act as an economic catalyst for other things in the corridor area," he said.
 
There hasn't yet been a cost pinned to the project. Graves said a rough, preliminary estimate, is in the neighbourhood of $800,000.
 
The city has approached the Dorothy Palmer Estate but trustee Andrew Gunn hasn't yet committed funds.
 
He did however, express interest.
 
"There is little doubt that this proposed development would contribute in a lasting and meaningful way to the renewal of downtown St. Thomas," he was quoted in a city news release.
 
Discussions and planning will continue for the next few months. The city hopes to host a public information centre in June.
 
Staff plan to bring a detailed report including a cost estimate before St. Thomas city council for its 16 Jul 2012 meeting.
 
Members received a report outlining the timetable during Monday's meeting and many members took the opportunity to voice their approval.
 
"I really think that this is a good news story for the city of St. Thomas. We're going to have a really positive space at the end of this," Ald. Mark Cosens said.
 
Ald. Gord Campbell agreed.
 
"Every once in a while, an exciting project comes across this desk and certainly this is one of them," he added.
 
The revitalized corridor is already being pitched as a future location for the city's annual Iron Horse Festival.
 
In future, track could be laid north from Kains to Barwick Street, to close a rail gap between downtown and CN's line to London.
 
Graves says planners are keeping their options open.
 
Nick Lypaczewski.