The city says legal proceedings around Allandale Station, a high-profile property along the Barrie lakeshore, have been "resolved."
The historic property near Lakeshore Drive and Tiffin Street had been tied up in the courts for years.
"The City of Barrie’s court proceedings with Correct Group Inc. (CGI) regarding the Allandale Station lands are resolved," states a news release from the city issued Friday morning.
On Jan. 25, 2022, the city says the Ontario Superior Court dismissed all of the claims against the municipality and the named individuals. The city also says CGI appealed the decisions. The city and CGI have agreed that the appeals are to be dismissed without costs, states the release.
“I’m so happy to see this lawsuit finally come to an end,” Mayor Alex Nuttall said in the release. “I want to thank our legal team and staff who defended our position for 13 years and were completely validated. I’m very pleased to be able to put this matter behind us for good.”
CGI commenced a lawsuit against the City of Barrie in December 2011 and sought various forms of relief, including damages for breach of contract related to negotiations for the purchase and development of the Allandale Station land, an approximately nine-acre property located on the southern edge of Barrie’s waterfront.
CGI and Correct Building Corporation commenced another lawsuit in December 2013 against current and former City of Barrie staff, current and former city councillors, a consultant for the City of Barrie, and other defendants and sought damages related to those individuals’ involvement in the negotiations for the purchase and development of the Allandale Station land.
Allandale Station was built in 1905 and had been undergoing significant redevelopment in recent years before work was halted.
What happens next with the former train station has yet to be seen, however.
A provincially ordered archaeological assessment and burial site investigation has also been ongoing since 2017 before any further redevelopment could proceed.
A news story published on BarrieToday in July 2023 indicated this year’s archaeological assessment and burial-site investigation involved the mechanical excavation and screening of the remaining soil within the site limits that retain the possibility of containing ancestral human remains.
The 2023 field strategy is designed to expedite recovering ancestral human remains from the property, while allowing the city to backfill cleared areas to grade.
This work continued from the 2022 field season and was based on discussions between city archaeologist AECOM, representatives of the Williams Treaties First Nation communities and the Huron-Wendat Nation, the City of Barrie and the Registrar of Burial Sites for the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, in 2021 and 2022.
This prime waterfront land is designated community hub in Barrie’s Official Plan. It's also located beside the Allandale Waterfront GO station.
BarrieToday will have more on this developing story.
