Councillors push back on Ritz’s GTR plans

Robert Ritz presented his vision for the Grand Trunk site at a special meeting on April 20 meant to hear from the public. While many councillors and members of the public praised his vision, some councillors pushed back on the cost.

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As City of Stratford staff, consultants and council have worked to get closer to a vision of what a revitalized Grand Trunk could look like, local architect Robert Ritz has developed his own, garnering a huge amount of support from the public. Though his plan has been shared with staff and council, and could perhaps mesh with what they propose, it was not publicly discussed by council – until this week that is.

On April 20, council held a special meeting to hear from the public on the proposed path forward, which includes formalizing partnerships with the YMCA of Three Rivers and the Stratford Public Library, plan for a $15 million city contribution to a shared community hub including the Y and library and begin developing the facility design, operating and ownership model.

A total of 12 members of the public shared their thoughts either through written correspondence or delegating, including Ritz.

“It’s not just about deciding the future of the GTR site, but for many of us here, it’s primarily to determine the fate of the building itself,” Ritz said during his presentation. “I believe that most people in this room share the same perspective as the ad hoc committee did. We want to preserve as much of the building as possible, and I feel the same way about it.

“… I think it would be a lost opportunity,” Ritz emotionally petitioned. “… I have the talent, I have the time … I want council to see it because it would hurt me, that’s where the emotion comes, in letting it go … And that’s why I started with the opening point on the people in this room, the people that were at the open houses: they own it. And if we get to that point, let them decide what to do with it.”

Ritz reiterated much of his plan as previously discussed at open houses earlier this year. His vision would see the whole superstructure transformed into a community hub with spaces for a new Y, library, businesses and community organizations, luxury apartments (meant to offset the cost of the development) and even locomotive 6218 – a reminder of the old shops’ origins.

Like at his open houses, Ritz did not share prices for the vision, asking council and the public to bear with him as numbers come back from contractor PCL Construction, which he has been working with to price out as if it was a real project. A report from PCL could be delivered as early as next week, Ritz said.

While Ritz was pricing the project by components, saying efficiencies could be found that way, Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach used the Class D estimates provided by city staff to determine that a 10,000 square foot community facility within the structure could be $138 million.

“It’s an impressive superstructure, but it’s a very costly superstructure,” Coun. Larry McCabe added. “… I was originally in favour of retaining the structure, but evidence has proven that to be a very difficult thing to think through. … We are a small municipality of 35,000 at a stretch as a population, and we do have a real possibility of toppling the financial structure of this city if we get this wrong. So I appreciate the vision behind the site but I am concerned about the scale.”

Another point of contention was surrounding Ritz’s proposal to sell the current YMCA to the Stratford Police Service as its new headquarters. Currently, the city is investigating the former Scotiabank data centre on Wright Boulevard to house police, a property that is currently on the market for $14 million. Ritz believes that if the building is bought by the city, the $4 million estimated cost would go directly to the Y’s new community hub, effectively going towards the city’s very own project.

“So $4 million is actually buying $8 million,” Ritz said. “Because it’s doing two for the price of one – definitely worth consideration.”

Coun. Harjinder Nijjar inquired about what Ritz thinks it would cost to convert the Y into a police headquarters, though Ritz had no hard numbers. He reasoned that if purchased for $4 million, it would give the city $10 million to work with, considering the $14 million price tag attached to the Scotiabank property.

Nijjar, a member of the police service’s board, claimed one cost he heard to retrofit an old building not up to the emergency standards needed for police was $30-40 million – and that was an estimate from 10 years ago. As a data centre, built for similar standards, it would cost much less to convert the Scotiabank property, Nijjar said.

Coun. Lesley Biehn also said that from her discussions with police, leadership does not believe the Y to be the ideal place for their headquarters.

While a few councillors pushed back on what they saw as the fiscal shortcoming of Ritz’s plan, he was supported by many of the delegates that evening – most of whom spoke in favour of it.

“I ask you, please, before this goes any farther that you take a whole meeting with Mr. Ritz, take advantage of all of that time and effort that he's put into this, his true expert knowledge, someone who knows this city,” delegate Robert Verdun pleaded. “We're only five months away from the municipal election, and democratic principles demand that the current city council should not make any major irreversible decisions during this period. The election means the citizens will be really engaged. They will be paying attention like never before, and their participation in the overall process must be respected.”

Stephen Landers, another delegate, went a step further.

“If we have maybe a referendum this December, people have the full facts and can decide on what they should be doing …”

The GTR will be back on the docket next week as council considers the community hub at its April 27 regular meeting.