Plans are slowly taking shape for what could be a new community within a community in downtown St. Thomas. But many residents have ideas of their own as to what they’d like to see happen with the railway lands south of Talbot Street. “I would love to see greenspace. The city is growing. It’s got like, 40,000 people, and we need as much greenspace as we can get,” said David Van Pelt. “I’d like to see some parks come in here, some affordable housing. Nothing like the $2,000, $3,000 dollar apartments that they’re building in corners of the city. A dog park would be nice, and more centrally located. We also need a centrally located high school,” said resident Tasha Reid. “I’m just looking for it to be developed into really nice parkland for families,” said resident Andrew Knowlton. This week, St. Thomas council had a look at the Railway Lands Area Master Plan Preliminary Concepts. The former rail lands downtown between Talbot and Wellington streets behind the CASO Station are being proposed for mixed use residential and commercial development. Some councillors are pushing for an abundance of parkland at the site, including Coun. Joan Rymal. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to have this downtown space central to downtown,” said Rymal at the Monday council meeting. “There’s so many things that could happen. I’m just thinking of, you know, Harris Park in London, where they have Rock the Park. You could have Rock the Rails, and have a wonderful concert venue there,” she suggested. Concept 1 for the Railway Lands is Status Quo with Moderate Intensification, including up to 1,325 housing units. Concept 2 is High Mixed Use and Connectivity Scenario with up to 3,550 units. And Concept 3 is Hybrid Intensification Scenario with up to 1,325 units. St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston says while council can guide the project, ultimately it will be up to private landowners as to what they do with the property. “So, are we going back to the owner of the land and buying it back to make our parks? You’re asking a developer just to develop a park. There’s no income there,” he told CTV News. Developing the brownfield site is no easy or inexpensive task. According to the mayor, remediation will cost millions of dollars per hectare- which would be picked up by both property owners and taxpayers. “I frown a little bit about how the railways left our community in a contaminated state that we now have to deal with,” said Mayor Preston. “When it’s costing us millions of dollars to repair what they left us, then that will also contribute to how much we can do,” he added. Preston expects council will approve necessary zoning changes in 2027. In the meantime, public meetings are being planned for November. The mayor is also encouraging people to share their views on the project through the Speak Up St. Thomas web page.
