Auchmar saga feeling like Groundhog Day
As much as anyone, we would love to see a solution for the Auchmar Estate that makes everyone happy. Preservationists, neighbourhood advocates, city council and staff, budget-challenged taxpayers and even the development community. Auchmar should be fully restored to its former glory, play a vital and sustainable role and not be an undue burden on the city’s already stressed treasury. We want the best of all worlds.
But instead of examining and debating ideas that might deliver that, we’re still waiting. Waiting for city staff to finally polish up an idea that has been on the table for four years — to turn the 1850s historic manor into a retreat and conference centre owned and operated by the city. Waiting for that idea to be fully enough developed that it can be presented to council. By that time it will have been nearly five years. We can’t be the only ones feeling a sense of the surreal around this project and Auchmar in general. The phrase that comes to mind is sitting in limbo.
And why? Because there is a strong but yet unrevealed business case for Isaac Buchanan’s former digs to be a successful centre for conferences, retreats, weddings banquets and the like? And if there is a niche for those services, is the city the right one to fill it?
Let’s not forget, as pointed out by Andrew Dreschel on Monday, that the city doesn’t have a great track record in the hospitality business. Public golf courses are an example, as is the convention centre when it was owned and operated by the city before being turned over to the private sector. Why should we think that this conference centre plan will fare better?
As significantly, is it really appropriate for a taxpayer-funded business interest to compete with privatesector operators? Isn’t that a tilted playing field on which people struggling to play and win in a competitive market find themselves competing against entities financed by taxpaying citizens?
For as long as this idea has been around, and probably longer, we’ve argued for a different approach. Maintain all or most of the ownership of Auchmar. Partner with a private-sector player to help develop and manage in the right direction. Maybe it’s a conference centre. Maybe it’s partly housing with a heritage preservation portion.
The point is, there are private sector businesses that have expressed interest in either buying Auchmar and/or partnering in its redevelopment and management. But instead of seriously exploring that potential, we have delayed time and again so the city can come up with its preferred plan. As revealed by Dreschel, another six-month delay is now likely to allow the hiring of a consultant to study the idea and report back on it along with community fundraising capacity.
Does this feel like Groundhog Day to anyone else? Haven’t we been here before?
Howard Elliott