This giant sign on Lakehead University land in Orillia has been in place for a couple of months but it’s not the guaranteed site for the city’s new hospital. Earlier this week, city council voted to postpone discussion and decision making surrounding the potential sale of Lakehead University’s lands for a new hospital site. Right now, the university holds the title, but the City has a development agreement that governs any potential land sale. And council isn’t ready to make a decision. “The original agreement the land was given to Lakehead for the development of a university and Lakehead has said that they want the proceeds from that sale to go towards building a campus expansion,” says Orillia City Councillor Janet-Lynne Durnford. “The city gave that land in a donation along with millions of dollars to Lakehead and it can only be used for certain purposes. They are no longer using it for those purposes and, therefore, the legal rights that are there should be adhered to and I believe the city of Orillia should retain that land back,” says Orillia City Councillor Whitney Joy Smith. On Monday, council received a 494-page report from the City’s CAO on the issue. They are now sifting through the details and will take the next couple of weeks to meet with Lakehead and hospital staff for more clarity before voting on what to do. “Our approval to go to stage 1.3 has site specific planning requirements that cannot proceed until the 25 acres is removed from the covenant,” says Tom Roberts, interim president for Orillia Soldiers Memorial Hospital. “The sale of the land would help us enormously in putting together the money we need in order to build that new building because we currently don’t have that money,” says Gillian Siddall, president for Lakehead University. The city councillors say the extra time is needed to go through that massive report and give residents the chance to get the information they need. The proposed sale of the land will be back up for discussion in council chambers Aug. 10.
