Station deemed surplus

What to do with historic Summerside railway station?

The City of Summerside wants proposals for what to do with its historic railway station.

The city has issued a request for proposals regarding the building at 192 Water St. and according to the advertisement, the property has been declared surplus by the city and it is now interested in hearing ideas regarding its future.

The structure was built in 1927 and operated as a rail station until the early 1990s, then housed the Summerside Rotary Library until last December it moved to the new Inspire Learning Centre at 57 Central St.

The city anticipates a lot of interest in the property, said Summerside Mayor Bill Martin.

“I would think we’ll get an abundance of folks who see the potential in the location, see the potential in the building itself,” said Martin. “I’ve personally been approached over “(A museum is) something that Summerside is lacking. We have a lot of people who have a lot of artifacts who’d like to donate them, but we have no place to store or care for those items.” the last year by … maybe four individuals or entities who have expressed an interest in being informed when and if the city was ready to do this.”

One of those people with a keen interest in the future of the property is Peter Holman, president of the Summerside and Area Historical Society.

Holman said his organization has previously expressed interest in partnering with organizations to turn the building into a museum.

“That’s something that Summerside is lacking. We have a lot of people who have a lot of artifacts who’d like to donate them, but we have no place to store or care for those items,” said Holman.

Every year more of those items are lost, he added, as their owners pass away and their children discard what they don’t value.

Now that this RFP has been issued, the society will have to evaluate whether it will seek partners to submit a joint proposal. Holman also expressed concern regarding the status of the railway property.

The building is a registered historic property, but not a designated one. That distinction is important because registered properties are not subject to the same protections as designated ones. Registered properties can still be modified significantly or even torn down at the owner’s discretion.

Proposals for this project can be submitted until Feb. 17 at noon.

The Town of Stratford is still bustling with development activity despite a couple of obvious challenges in 2016.

Building permits were up more than double last year compared to the year before.

According to information released at the regular public monthly meeting recently, the value of building permits in 2016 was $23,452,630 compared to $11,103,718 in 2015.

Not bad for a town that sustained a big blow last year with the closure of Home Hardware and just recently with news that KFC was shutting down.

Mayor David Dunphy said the $5-million expansion at Sobeys is a big reason why the value of permits was up last year.

“I know we had a tough year last year in terms of losing the Home Hardware and most recently the KFC, but I think those situations happen,’’ Dunphy told TC Media following the council meeting. “It’s just the way business goes. That (KFC) location is a great location and we feel there will be something there in the near future.’’

There have been rumours that the KFC location could be turned into a Taco Bell but the owner of KFC didn’t want to get people’s hopes up when he spoke to TC Media.

Dunphy is still optimistic about someone filling the large vacant location at Home Hardware.

“At some point and time enterprise will drive that and there will be something there. It’s a great location.’’

Dunphy said the confidence Sobeys is showing in the town with its major expansion is a great sign for the future.

“Sobeys is a great story about how they feel about the 10,000plus (Stratford population) plus the surrounding areas. Sobeys believes in Stratford to the point where they had their first expansion on the south side and then followed up with an expansion on the north side.’’

Dunphy also pointed to robust residential growth, citing one example, the 12 townhouses that have gone up on the corner of the Stratford and Kinlock roads.