City staff are getting their marching orders for relocating the Navy League/Sea Cadets’ facility and boathouse.
Barrie councillors passed a motion Wednesday night that staff look at potential new sites for the young sailors, the cost to build and the next steps.
These actions are combined with delaying an update of the city’s waterfront strategic plan until September, to deal with a new home for the Sea Cadets.
Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson’s motion also asks for more talks with community youth groups about the relocation, then reporting back to the city’s infrastructure and community investment committee.
“I felt there was a need for more engagement with some local youth groups, to see if there’s more we can do on the waterfront,” he said. “There’s always been a desire to look at the Navy and Sea Cadets building being moved, to utilize (that location) a little bit more and freeing up some really prime waterfront for activating our downtown.”
City council will consider final approval of the motion at its June 21 meeting.
The Navy League is already petitioning the city for a multi-use facility on Lakeshore Drive, between the Heritage Military Park and Minet’s Point Road, and that it be included in Barrie’s waterfront master plan.
The petition asks for a new building and meeting space for the Navy League, as well as a multi-use outdoor space for cadet and military parades, along with an outdoor recreation field and meeting space.
The Navy League says this has been in the works for more than 30 years.
To see the petition, click here. The petition had more than 1,200 signatures as of 4 p.m., Thursday.
Navy League branch president Diane Chislett and Mayor Alex Nuttall were scheduled to talk about relocation last week.
Any plans for a new Sea Cadets building, and the financing, would still require city council approval, although Chislett had said the Navy League/Sea Cadets have a fundraising plan once there is council approval for a new location.
The preferred location is the waterfront’s southern shore.
Chislett has said the new facility’s cost and size have not yet been determined, but it will need to have indoor and outdoor storage, a full kitchen, chairs and classroom tables, and running water.
A new facility wouldn’t just be for the Sea Cadets and the Navy League, as there have been talks with the local Army and Air Cadets, and it would also work with the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, which could be some of the groups city staff talk with.
Barrie has about 130 young sailors, along with those from the Nautical Training Centre, so cadets from all around central Ontario would go to the new facility for their sail training.
Flanked by Barrie Marina and the Bayfield Street basin transient marina, the Sea Cadets building has been city property since 2016 and the Navy League/Sea Cadets have a lease of approximately 23 years there, Chislett has said.
But as Kempenfelt Bay has become busier with boat traffic, the Sea Cadets have looked for a new facility.
The property, which includes a 60-by-40-foot, two-level boathouse, is located between Maple Avenue and Bayfield Street. The boathouse is used for repairs, storage, meetings and events as well as general gathering places for parades and movie nights.
The Navy League is for kids aged nine to 12, the Sea Cadets for 13- to 18-year-olds.
