{"id":5269,"date":"2014-01-22T14:54:21","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T19:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=5269"},"modified":"2014-02-05T14:28:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-05T19:28:19","slug":"heritage-park-plan-put-on-hold-until-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/heritage-park-plan-put-on-hold-until-february\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Park plan put on hold until February"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proponents of a $10 million proposal to make a heritage park a reality will have at least another couple of weeks to see if their vision will take one step closer to becoming a reality. <\/p>\n

Councillors voted at last week\u2019s General Committee meeting to receive an extensive report outlining the potential viability of such a site, which would combine three Yonge Street properties into a four acre heritage park. Going into Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Councillors were faced with a recommendation to review the plan and to consider negotiating the sale of Hillary House, Readman House immediately to its south, and the yellow-hued Horton Place at the south corner of the block.<\/p>\n

Had the recommendation passed as-is, Council could have formally authorised the negotiations to commence as soon as the first half of February.
\nFor some members of Council, however, what was on the table was too much too soon. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I have been supportive of the concept from the get go, and I still am, I believe our Council recommendation was for a feasibility study and I think this goes way beyond a feasibility study,\u201d said Mayor Geoffrey Dawe. \u201cI think that having a presentation would be a good thing for us to have so I have a much better sense of what I am looking at here.\u201d<\/p>\n

A similar view was offered by Councillor Michael Thompson who said he was not comfortable with the recommendation heading to February 4 as it was.
\n\u201cI believe this is putting the cart before the horse,\u201d said Councillor Thompson. \u201cCouncil neither endorsed this concept in principle nor had much opportunity to speak as a collective group and yet here we are already talking about negotiating the terms of agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would rather see this go forward and simply say. \u2018Council provide direction.\u2019 I just think it is too soon for the recommendation as is. Let\u2019s debate the merits of it itself and digest the report or have a presentation. I don\u2019t think it is fair to put forward that recommendation as it stands without prior direction to Council other than a feasibility study.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further recommendations included an additional report coming back to Council with the details of developing a master plan for the properties, a blueprint for the property\u2019s \u201clong term development and operation\u201d, and, of course, the results of the negotiation process. <\/p>\n

Aurora Council authorised $25,000 to retain consultants to develop a feasibility study for Hillary-McIntyre Park last June. What they received last week, however, went beyond that initial concept to a 94 page cost-benefit study. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe report does not undertake a feasibility analysis of one particular vision for the site, but is intended to answer the primary questions of whether the purchase of the [properties] represents a long-term opportunity for the Town,\u201d said consultants in their report. \u201cBased on our analysis, the report concludes that the opportunities are likely to outweigh the costs. This conclusion, however, is based on the principle the Town\u2019s interests are best served by the adaptive re-use of the combined site, guided by a master plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proponents of the project put forward an initial vision of Hillary House remaining as is, Horton Place remaining in a very similar state and opened as a museum and potential meeting space with the central Readman property getting a complete overhaul, including an extensive addition to accommodate permanent museum and office space as well as a potential banqueting facility or conference centre. <\/p>\n

The report as received by Council, however, presents a very different picture \u2013 a picture painted with a degree of urgency. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt best, a potential scenario for the future of these properties is the continual upkeep of Horton Place in private ownership and the ongoing operation, maintenance and capital investment as necessary, in Hillary House,\u201d reads the report. \u201cHowever, this would come at a cost of losing the synergy and revenue generation potential associated with a consolidated site and the development of a private sector-led cultural and commercial hub at the site. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt worst, the heritage asset value of Horton Place could be diminished with new ownership over time, and financial constraints may limit the longevity of Hillary House as a well-maintained local and national historic site.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also explores partnership opportunities with private and non-profit groups, whereas the original vision was to bring the properties together with Federal and Provincial Grants, as well as a substantial infusion from Aurora\u2019s Hydro Reserves with an eye of creating a wholly municipal entity.
\nOne option would orbit around a central museum, but include commercial development on-site while \u201cmaintaining the heritage character\u201d of the property, as well as a \u201cwellness\u201d opportunity such as offices or a retirement facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevelopment cannot rest on the shoulders of the municipality \u2013 there must be clear opportunities for the private sector to provide a means to generate revenues to the Town as owner of the land and property assets,\u201d notes the report, adding its uses shouldn\u2019t compete with other facilities in Aurora\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proponents of a $10 million proposal to make a heritage park a reality will have at least another couple of weeks to see if their vision will take one step closer to becoming a reality. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1mZ","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-05 12:54:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}