Council had their say on what the future of two important Penetanguishene properties would look like for the near future: 51 Dunlop Street and the town dock area.
As the new term of council begins and various boards and committees are pieced together, Mayor Doug Rawson asked members of council to share what their thoughts were in regards to the town dock as well as the former Penetanguishene Secondary School locations and what they could become.
Staff were instructed to listen to the council commentary, as guidance for a new framework of those ad hoc committees’ terms of reference which would come back in a later meeting.
Town Dock
The town dock secondary plan and master plan project has been ongoing since 2019 through a Simcoe County funding grant, aimed at redeveloping the waterfront location that serves as a primary destination for tourists in the warm weather months utilizing the launch ramp and harbour as access to North Simcoe as a whole.
Several proposals and public meetings were met with concern on various issues of logistics and creative vision, by residents and members of the previous council.
Coun. Doug Leroux, the former mayor of Penetanguishene in the previous term, shared his belief that “one of the great concerns that the majority of ratepayers have is in parking, pointing out the launch ramp and cruise ship areas as particularly troublesome. He added that the tourist information centre (TIC) was aged and should be considered for demolition and replacement.
Accessibility remained a strong motivation for Coun. Suzanne Marchand who stated, “I consider the Dock Lunch and access to that restaurant to be one of the most accessible restaurants in Penetanguishene." Attracting and retaining visitors through the harbour, Marchand joked: “How can we make people take the long way to get to the dock?”
Coun. George Vadeboncoeur supported Marchand’s comment on strengthening “the integration of public and private sector uses” through the restaurant and private boat slips along with the public use for all. He also brought up council’s need for the full scope of information to craft full decisions, with mention toward geotechnical and engineering analysis along with up-to-date survey data.
A suggestion from Coun. Bill Waters was that the TIC could be better relocated at the entrance to the town on County Road 93, and a replacement building at the dock could be designed to reproduce Penetanguishene’s historic train station.
Said Coun. Bonita Desroches, “I want that to be a hub where everybody’s got something to do there.” Her comments revolved around previous plans being “overzealous” in reach, with her thoughts aimed more to a welcoming multi-use variety locale not limited just to the water users.
After praising the others’ comments, Deputy Mayor Dan La Rose suggested incorporating the adjacent sewage treatment plant as a tie-in to the nearby parkland.
Rawson, who had shown ambition and enthusiasm for Penetanguishene’s prosperous future, suggested that boat slips could be moved in making way for docking of larger vessels as a main economic driver; also suggesting that a pump out station be located to capitalize on the large amount of traffic.
“During our gap analysis from the economic committee, we were looking at: what is the heart of the community?” posed Rawson. “I think it’s the town dock area. Everyone coming here says it resonates from there; I think it’s the heartbeat and where it starts.”
51 Dunlop Street
The demolition of the former Penetanguishene Secondary School on the 13-acre property of 51 Dunlop St. opened up the property as one of the most valuable and important resources for the future of the town.
Rawson prompted the discussion through his election campaign conversations, having heard the community speak to a recreational complex, affordable housing, and a possible school building as options for the site.
Leroux was a part of a committee last term looking at a proposed multi-use recreation facility, possibly costing as much as $49-million with two rinks for skating and curling as well as all the bells and whistles, funded additionally from all levels of government. To replace the aging Penetanguishene Memorial Community Centre (PMCC) and Penetanguishene Curling Club (PCC) buildings with additional community resources like the hall of fame and fitness accommodations, Leroux spoke highly of 51 Dunlop St. as the ideal location.
“To me, it is the ideal location,” said Leroux. “It remains central to the municipality, and consultants advised us that if we were to proceed with such a community centre, we would require a minimum of 10 acres of that 13 acres.”
Marchand supported Leroux’s comments, adding that the accessibility feature would be crucial for all ages within the community. She added that while she held strong conviction toward affordable housing, 51 Dunlop St. wasn’t the best location for that initiative.
Gaining input from the public on the site, as well as looking at fundraising ideas were the suggestions from Vadeboncoeur, who noted that partnerships might be a possibility. Waters echoed the enthusiasm for a new recreation centre on the site, offering that a large-scale raffle might gain community support.
Desroches declared, “I think it’s our time to be bold… with these decisions.” Her remarks pointed to how engaged the municipality and residents were, but that those events were spread out with no centrally-organized hub; a recreation centre would solve that. “It could be a living hub of activity for this town.”
Practicality was on La Rose’s mind as he suggested a storage facility for the town, that he said was struggling to find a place to put its Christmas lights during the off-season. To a recreation complex, La Rose cautioned that if the end result was too expensive, hiked user fees for residents could negatively dissuade people from using such a facility.
For Rawson, he began with a quote from Winston Churchill: ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” His comments touched upon the support from all members of council, and he highlighted the partnership between all members of the community and region.
CAO Jeff Lees said that the comments from council were noted by staff, and that draft terms of reference would return before council at a later date for consideration.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of regular meetings of council are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.
