Stratford: ‘a gathering space for generations to come’

While Many Southwestern Ontario Municipalities have attempted to revitalize their downtown Cores in recent years, the city of stratford has been injured with a unique opportunity.

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Nestled on the Edge of the City’s Historic Downtown Core Lies the Sprawling 7.2-Hectare (18-Acre) Grand Trunk Site That Includes The Train Locomotive Repair Shop, A Massive 14.684-Square-Metre (160,000-Square-Foot) Steel and Concrete Structure That Has The Potential For A substantial transformation.

Exploring the possibilitities represented by the site truly began in earnest in 2023, when the city formed its ad-hoc great trunk renewal commtite to help guide the discussion and the planning, although coucil will still have the ultimate say.

City Officials have long viewed the great trunk site as vital to their long-term vision. In 2009, Stratford expropriated the site from its previous owner, prompting a 10-yéar legal battle that ended in additional compensation in 2023.

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As of September 2022, with shovels Yet to Meet Ground, the City Had Already Spent A Whopping $ 27 million, Including More Than $ 5 million on the expropriation and a $ 10-million contribution to the University of Waterloo Satellite Campus.

Urban Planner Melanie Hare, Who Helped Development Stratford’s 2018 Grand Trunk Master Plan and is Now A Member of That Committee, NODED The Grand Trunk Repair Shops Had Been An Economic Catalyst for the City During the Early Part of the 20th Century. Many Community Members, She Added, Still Have A Connection to the Site through A Family Member or Friend Who Ooce Worked There.

“So it has a physical and heritage lift, but it also has a cultural lift and meaning to the city. It was one of the reasons the city grew very quickly at that time, and was an Economic Generator for A Long Time,” Hare Said.

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That lifting and meaning is part of the vision that city and its committee are trying to recaptive through a wide ranges of potential uses, that, hare notes, include desperately needed housing, as well as a raft of cultural and community opportunities.

“SO A RAGE OF USES THAT Can Be A Point of Gathering and Pride for the Broade City. It can help the Downtown by Bringing More People Downtown. It can make better use of land Than a surface parking lot and an Empty Building in a city that Growing,” Hare Said.

While Exactly What this Eventual Revitalization Will Look Like, and Just What Will Be Located There, is Still Very Much Up in the Air, the City is Currently Working with Two Major Potential Partners – The Ymca Three Rivers and the Stratford Public Library – To Explore Some of the Myriad possibilities.

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These discussions have identified a potential community space of 21.336 to 33.528 square meters (70,000 to 110,000 Square Feet), Which WOULD Cost AnyWhere from 48.5 million to $ 76.5 million, based on Current cost of $ 695 per Square Foot. While the University of Waterloo has also involved in discussions about the site, and has signed a memorandum of understanding, its involvement is less sure.

The ymca, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the city in Octuber 2023, is look for a new rental, given that its current facility, adjacent to the great trunk building, is aging.

“Infrastructure is a challenge in all recreation, and that building has served the community extremely well, but it’s almmost 60 years old so a lot of the capital work is nearing the end of its lifespan,” Said Mike ennis, the ymca three rivers CEO.

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“A lot of it is the roof, the hvac system, your back-of-the-house stuff. We’re at the point where, do you keep investing in a 60-yy-oar building, or do you look at trying to figure out something that would serve More People in a modern and updated way? That’s Why We’ve Agreed to Explore What That Could Look Like. ”

YMCA Officials, ENNIS NOTED, have opted not to look at other rentals at present, instead choosing to focus on the great trunk opportunity.

A New Location Would Allow the Ymca to Better Deliver Its Programming, Which Extend Beyond Gym Equipment and A Swimming Pool, Ennis Added.

“In 2025, the ymca is much more than that. We Run Early on Programs. We Run Youth Programs. Childcare is a massive need in the community, and one that we know we can do more of. Thinking and reimagining all the different services that are needed in the area, some new infrastructure Incredibly Helpful to make that happen, ”He Said.

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Like the ymca, the city’s library is in desperate need of a new rental. Library CEO Krista Robinson noted the Facility is “Really Throttled because of the Limited Space” It Currently has in its historical Carnegie Building. A 2023 Report indicated the library is undersized by Roughly 1,858 square meters (20,000 Square Feet) for a City of Stratford’s size.

“Having a Library that is the right size for a growing population will let us properly serve the community in an accessible and inclusive way,” Robinson Said.

The Grand Trunk Site Could Potentiallly Host A Library as Large AS 3,718 square meters (40,000 Square Feet).

A LOCATION OF THIS SIZE WOULD ALLOW The Library to Provide An ADEQUATE MEETING SPACE AND GROW ITS SEATING BY 400 PER CENT, ROBINSON SAID.

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“We would have a play are for young families and a teen are for kids to hang out school. We could have a full-scale Maker space that weld allow More Three People in at one time. Tthose are All Things that we are asked for now, and we can Ways, but we (currently) not meet the request that we are seeing, ”Robinson Said.

While Building A New Library at a different rental would be Quicker and Easier, there are very Few sites in Stratford where a new building could be accommodated, meaning it would have to move to the city’s outskirts. The Grand Trunk Site’s Appeal, Robinson Said, Lis that the Library Would Still Be Downtown, Robinson Explained.

“A Lot of People Walk to Us. Libraries, Including Stratford’s, Are Generally noted in their Official Plans As Being Something that Should be in the Downtown Core. Communities that do have Have Libraries on the outskirts are satellite rentals, but our community isn Requires to satellite rental, ”She Said.

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Based on Her Work Experience, Developing A Rental of the Grand Trunk’s Enormous Size Would Take AnyWhere from 10 to 20 years, Hare Said. These Partnerships with Local Organizations Are Key, Given That the City Will Not Be Able to Do All of the Work Itself, She Said.

“The Nature of a Partnership with the Y OR the Library or A Housing Developer or A Parking Structure Management Developer Will Be Different in Each Instance, and will come with a ranges of contributions and rewards. So each of Those Partnerships Are Going to Be How’s Going to Be Developed,” She Said.

A Potential Partnership Between the Stratford Public Library and the Ymca Brings to Mind Comparisons to Another Partnership Just Down the Road in Waterloo. There, The Ymca Three Rivers Parted with the City of Waterloo and the Waterloo Public Library on Building At Fischer-Hallman Road and Laurelwood Drive That Houses The John M. Harper Library and Stork Family Ymca. This shared facility opened in 2011 at a cost of $ 22.3 million.

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In London, The Ymca of Southwestern Ontario Parted with the City and the Library on Two Locations, The Stoney Creek Community Center, Which Opened in 2010, and the $ 55-Million Startech.com Community Center, Which Opened in 2018.

“That’s exactly the Type of Vision, and Every Community is a Little Bit Different. So in Waterloo, that design – that model – made a lot of sense, but What What of Stratford’s Look Like? There are a lot of good examples that we can read Serving the Community, ”Ennis Said.

“Just the Social Connection That Could Happen Under a Partnership Roof Like that. If Covid Taught US Anything, It’s not necessary necessary the services, it’s the social connection that’s so important,” he said of the potential community hub.

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For Robinson, working with the ymca and other community partners “is vital to make this project a success.”

“By Transforming This Historic Space in Stratford Into a Vibrant Community Hub that include essential amenities like the ymca and our new library, we pre -service the site’s legacy while creating a gathering space for generations to come,” she said.

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