Doug Tarry calls the sale of a parcel of land to the west of the Elgin County Railway Museum an innovative first step to revitalize the downtown railway lands.
The deal was completed on June 28 of this year at a price of $2.4 million and a ceremony was held Tuesday at the museum to celebrate the move forward after three years.
The process to purchase the eight acres of land began in the summer of 2021.
However, Tuesday’s ceremony was about more than the sale of eight acres of land to Doug Tarry Ltd.
Tarry used the opportunity to announce a $200,000 donation to help secure the future of the downtown facility.
Additionally, there was a gift of $36,295 to help the the ECRM “envision and shape the strategic direction of its museum and building to create a strategy for a sustainable future.”
At the February council meeting, St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston called it a case of the city being bold with the railway lands.
And he challenged members of council to think about what is the best use of the downtown railway lands.
At Tuesday’s ceremony, Preston referred to St. Thomas of the future.
In a previous interview, Scott Sleightholm, ECRM president, stressed the funds from the land transaction “are just a seed and a starting point for us to continue into the future and retrofit and restore that building and the museum.”
The Elgin County Railway Museum has been housed in the 52,000-square-foot , 1913 Michigan Central Railroad locomotive shops, since its incorporation in 1989 and purchased
the property in 2010.
Written by: Ian McCallum
