Stratford Times July 26, 2024 Draft work plan for Grand Trunk renewal project CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Work on the Grand Trunk renewal proj- ect continues to inch closer but, as said many times before, it will be a multi-year, if not a multi-decade project. At the most recent ad hoc Grand Trunk renewal committee meeting on July 15, the draft work plan and guiding princi- ples for the project was presented to the committee by Joani Gerber, CEO of in- vestStratford, on behalf of Emily Robson, corporate initiative lead with the city, who has taken the lead on steering the plan. Gerber said that much of the work will be done at the staff and city level, but the working groups are expected to contrib- ut e What has been created, essentially, is a list of high level results assigned to each working group, with tasks listed for each of the working groups. Gerber said that the intention is to have some tangible things for the committee, for city council, and by extension the wider community, to be engaged with and help move the project forward. Finalizing vision and guiding principles, site analysis and environmental assess- ment, developing key partnership models, communications and community engage- ment, procurement and RFP processes and structuring legal agreements, finan- cial and real estate modeling, analysis of economic, environmental, and social im- pact, and government relations are the key goals in the plan. Ultimately, the results the group wants to see as a result of the work plan are: + A final draft of the vision and guiding principles endorsed by the committee and council and incorporated into procure- ment documents. + Recommendations on an additional site assessment, for approaches to carbon neutrality provided and a complete inter- nal formal consultation on the site. + The establishment of a formal agree- ment for the construction and operation of a community recreation/amenity facility, including the programming of space and high-level design. + The activation of the site through placemaking interventions. + A council-endorsed strategy for land disposition and development partner se- lection. * Development scenarios articulated and the preferred model endorsed by council. + An impact analysis provided to inform presented to committee RENEWAL PROJECT Just outside the main buildi Museum. Its history starts at its development scenarios and recommenda- tions on preferred models. * The determination of the best oppor- tunities for collaboration and government relations priorities set. “We're going to set some ... I would say aggressive timelines and dates to some of these things,” Gerber said. “We may not meet them all.” At the August 12 council meeting, the committee wants to provide the work plan for consideration. At the Sept. 9 meeting, the committee wants council to consider the final vision and guiding principles. At the Oc. 15 council meeting, the committee wants council to consider the key partner- ship model. Then, at the Nov. 25 meeting, the committee wants council to consider its recommendations for the site. “This is a living, breathing document,” Gerber said. “It's not something that's go- ing to get stuck ona shelf, it is also not set in stone. So there will be things that will come up over the course of the next 30 days, three months, three years, that will be added and taken away from this work plan. But this is what we have so far.” After Gerber presented the plan at the meeting, Mayor Martin Ritsma also gave a brief update on a meeting he had just that morning. Ritsma shared that he had met with several individuals from the federal level nearly a year ago, including Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and MP Scott Aitchison, shadow minister of housing and diversity, where he spoke about the Grand Trunk project. “And Scott said at one point, ‘so you are the city with 18 acres in the middle of it?’ (CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO) g of the Grand Trunk block is a timeline of its history in the Festival City, provided by the Stratford Perth ‘ial construction in 1879 and stretches all the way to the renewal efforts underway today. and I said ‘yes, we are. Then, just the week prior to the latest committee meeting, Ritsma received a phone call from MP John Nater telling him that Aitchison was going to be in Stratford and would like to meet at the site. “So we had a wonderful meeting today on site and talked about many things about the history of the locomotive shops, we talked about current parking, and differ- ent aspects of the project. He was really intrigued with our transit hub and where it stood and how that fits with monies, grant monies that might flow with regards to housing and proximity to transit hubs. “But most importantly ... he encour- aged us to continue that work is funding that could be connected to infrastructure, because whatever we put there will re- quire infrastructure.” SHOP LOCAL. SAVE LOCAL » Support the local businesses that keep your community and its newspapers thriving. ADVERTISE gy wowsintcowi Médias d’Info Canada