Huntsville’s historic train station is sorely in need of expensive repairs, but who will bear the full cost of those repairs remains to be determined.
The train station was on General Committee’s agenda once again in November as it wrestled with what to do with the heritage building. The station’s most urgent repairs relate to drainage: when it rains, a failed storm sewer causes flooding in the building’s basement and subsequent damage. Secondary to sewer repairs are mould remediation and a required HVAC replacement.
How much to do and when were central to the committee’s discussion – if the building is to be declared surplus and disposed of, as recommended by staff, some councillors questioned the need for completing all of the repairs.
For the Town to retain ownership of the building and complete all of the necessary repairs carries an estimated price tag of $328,500. To only re-route the storm sewer and upgrade the sanitary sewer to a gravity connection would cost $158,000.
Even if the Town sells the train station, staff agreed that the sewer is still the responsibility of the municipality. The other costs could potentially be left for a new owner to deal with.
In addition to being required, the Town’s CAO, Denise Corry, justified the sewer repairs as strategic for disposition of the building. “We were of the opinion that if we were to approach a partnership with a heritage group or arts and culture group, it would be very difficult for a private group to pay for that cost… Without doing the sewers we felt the building would continue to sit there.”
Committee agreed to proceed with the storm sewer and sanitary sewer work, with the resolution to be ratified at Council’s next meeting.
The train station’s basement floods after rain. This photo shows the saturated floor.(Photo: Michael Flynn and Associates)
Should the Town keep or dispose of the train station?
One thing is clear, committee was reminded: no matter who owns it, the station can’t be demolished, nor can it be moved. An Ontario Heritage Trust (OHT) conservation easement agreement has been established in perpetuity and protects the property from both of those possibilities.
Under the easement, the heritage features of the building must also be maintained. If the Town decides to retain ownership of the station, it is responsible for those costs. Neglecting them isn’t an option; the OHT would step in to ensure the agreement is fulfilled and bill the Town for any repairs. If the building is sold, the easement would transfer with the title and the new owner would be responsible for fulfilling the agreement.
Councillors acknowledged the heritage value of the building and Councillor Nancy Alcock made a passionate case for preserving it.
“I recognize it’s a lot of money for our municipality and I recognize the desire to offload it,” said Alcock. “What makes Huntsville so wonderful is that we have a huge community of people that recognize the value of cultural tourism… We recognize this in our Unity Plan, in our Official Plan Review. We recognize the importance of cultural heritage tourism in our strategic visioning exercise.” She suggested that an outside group – a friends of the train station organization – could take over and be responsible for fundraising, perhaps with the assistance of a heritage grant.
Councillor Nancy Alcock pointed to the Friends of Freeman Station in Burlington as a model that could possibly work in Huntsville (Photo: freemanstation.ca)
“We give them five years to figure it out and then they are responsible for the fundraising push and it’s not on our books. I know that’s been done at other municipalities. (The sewer repairs) would be our contribution to them. If it fails, we take it back and sell it. I believe there are people out there who would be okay with that.”
It’s a strategy that’s been tried before, Alcock acknowledged, but without the requirement for hardcore fundraising. She cited the Rotary Club of Huntsville’s brick campaign for the River Mill Park bandshell as an initiative that could also work for the train station.
To give the committee time to investigate options for a partnership or friends group, Mayor Scott Aitchison suggested that the resolution to declare the station as surplus be tabled until a future meeting.
“I like Councillor Alcock’s proposal… Everyone was excited that we got this for a dollar (from CN) and then we were responsible for anything that may or may not be in the ground, we were responsible to maintain this rail shed for CN employees in perpetuity,” said Aitchison.
He noted that partnerships with various groups have failed. “We have to stop playing this game of we’ll do this, you do that, we’ll take care of this, you take care of that. It doesn’t work. We can make an investment to protect the integrity of the foundation and get the water away from the building, but if we can get it off our books…so the taxpayer isn’t constantly on the hook for what a few people in the community really, really care about. They can focus on it, and we can maintain the asset in the community. I would suggest we table this and give Councillor Alcock the opportunity to meet with some folks and see if they can’t cobble together a group that can take the challenge.”
Aitchison offered to help Alcock with her efforts. The matter will return to General Committee for discussion in future.
Related stories:
Fate of Huntsville’s train station still up in the air
Citing air quality concerns, the Chamber won’t be moving in to the train station after all
Mould and water issues at CN Station prompt its closure until further notice
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With one dedicated financier the Huntsville Train Station can continue to be a legacy gem in the community & out of he hands of the Town of Huntsville coffers. With more than 1,117,000 millionaires (globe and mail) in Canada, surely 1 can recognize the significance of the Station.