The Grand Trunk Railway & CNR Shops
Council hires NA Engineering to conduct structural analysis of Grand Trunk building
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
In preparation for development to begin on Stratford’s proposed Grand Trunk Community Hub, city council voted Monday night to hire NA Engineering to conduct a structural analysis on the former Cooper Site’s locomotive repair shop.
While council’s discussion about the structural analysis conducted in closed session, councillors voted in open session at the beginning of Monday’s meeting to retain NA Engineering Associates Inc. to conduct the analysis for no more than $79,200, plus tax.
“In the last couple of years, council has really galvanized around building a Grand Trunk Community Hub, and one of the concepts is to actually use part of the former rail shops,” Stratford CAO Rob Horne said. “There hasn’t been an updated look at the structure in some time, and NA Engineering has done a considerable body of work on the building in the past. So it was logical for them to do an update and overview.”
If council decides to proceed with developing a community hub that incorporates the old rail shop, Horne said the information collected during this summer’s two-month structural analysis will help inform the city’s tender process, as well as provide useful information to companies that submit bids for the proposed project.
According to Horne, engineers will focus largely on the building’s superstructure during their analysis, evaluating its structural integrity and determining whether any additional reinforcement is needed. The engineers are also going to look at the roof to give council a better idea of whether a roof replacement is needed and, if so, how that could be completed.
While on the roof, engineers will evaluate the potential for installing some kind of solar or green power generator to help reduce the community hub’s environmental impact.
Though he can’t say for sure, Horne said the engineers’ report will likely come back to council in open session at some point at the end of the summer or early fall. If that is the case, the document will be available for public review.
With regards to the in-camera discussion, Horne said councillors wanted the opportunity to discuss the merits of conducting the analysis in the context of potential federal funding that may become available for the community hub project in the near future but has not yet been confirmed.
“The recommendation was passed in open session, so it was public in that respect, but basically because we are negotiating with senior government – we’ve been successful with the provincial government, but we’re still working with the federal government – council needed to make a decision relative to some of those discussions. It was just to have a discussion about some of the early negotiations that we’re having and, of course, it’s important council look at that in the context of expenditures like this.
“… We’re in discussions with a variety of different parties, and because it does have to do with a pending property transaction, there was (justification for an in-camera discussion) that way.”
gsimmons@postmedia.com
Update (February, 2018):
The City of Stratford has retained Urban Strategies to help carry out a community engagement process to create a flexible Master Plan to help guide the evolution and future growth of the Cooper Block.
The Cooper Block Master Plan, now called the Grand Trunk Master Plan, provides a framework for how the site could develop over time and it addresses a range of urban planning and urban design matters such as parking, built form, open space provision, the public realm, and the street network
Update (March, 2015): In March, the city’s Planning and Heritage Committee recommended that the Cooper Site should not receive a heritage designation until a site plan and heritage assessment are complete. A followup recommendation was also approved requiring that once the site plan and heritage assessment are complete, a request will be made to Heritage Stratford to evaluate the site and recommend which elements should be designated.
Update (April, 2015): On April 20, an unexpected motion to demolish all but three bays of the structure was narrowly deferred for a week. On April 27, council voted 9-2 to reject the Riversedge Development proposal for the site, and entertained new public presentations that urged preservation of the shops. After a lengthy debate, the matter was again deferred, this time to a special meeting of council set for May 4.
Update (May 2015): On May 4, 2015 a compromise motion in which the fire damaged portion of the building and roof (approximately 40%) will be removed was passed by a vote of 10 to 1. The previous motion to demolish 93% of the shops and keep only 3 bays was withdrawn by Councillor Brown who then moved the new motion. The west wall will remain to show the impressive length of the original building. The City of Stratford will be asking for proposals for the adaptive re-use of the remaining 75 000 square feet.
Update (June 2015): On June 8, a motion was passed to send out a Request for Proposal for the adaptive re-use of the GTR shops building before any demolition takes place thus providing a developer with options. 75 000 sq. ft. of the building must, however, be retained in any development proposal.
The deadline for proposals will be 4 months after the RFP is sent out. It was stated by the Chief Administrative Officer that it may take up to two months for the RFP to be complete and it will follow a template sent by Heritage Canada.
