Anyone driving along Snow Valley Road near Bayfield Street lately can’t help but notice a change in the scenery.
Crews have been working at clearing a 50-acre parcel of land — purchased by the Township of Springwater for $3.88 million in November 2020 — for the development of a new community hub, which includes a new fire station and Simcoe County EMS station.
Plans also include the creation of a new recreation centre with arena, library and creative space, meeting and activity space and active and passive recreation opportunities such as trails and sports fields.
“This is a very exciting project,” said Mayor Don Allen, who told BarrieToday he has been advocating for the community hub for the past seven years.
Allen added during his time as a member of Simcoe County council, he learned the county was interested in the potential of combining its emergency management service (EMS) station with the township’s planned new fire station on the property, located at 1132 Snow Valley Rd.
“That’s when the CAO and myself started approaching the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources), as it was called, and negotiated for five years on and off to purchase the Crown lands as part of the Hasty Tract," he added.
The property, which originally consisted of a 100-acre parcel of land, was environmentally challenged in some areas, noted Allen, which resulted in the need for extensive environmental work to be completed in order to determine where on the property those challenges existed.
From there, the township opted to purchase the 50 acres right on the northwest corner of Bayfield Street and Snow Valley Road.
The township completed a Class B environmental assessment study in February 2021, which determined the project would have no significant adverse environmental effects. Officials also underwent consultations with First Nations as well as factoring in when the clearing and grubbing could be done based on the migration of the animals in the area.
“This is the window that we can do that, so that’s what is happening (now)… the initial tree clearing and grubbing to start to prepare for shovels in the ground later this year,” said Allen.
The western portion of the 50 acres is what is currently being cleared for the fire and EMS station. The remaining land, located closer to Bayfield Street, will also be cleared eventually to make room for the rest of the project, he said.
On Jan. 19, the Community Hub Master Plan contract was awarded to Weston Consulting in the amount of $183,002.64 (including HST), which will be responsible for public consultation, preparing a long-term concept plan for the property, site servicing, cost projections and design criteria for future facility development.
Allen told BarrieToday considering what should be included in terms of other amenities at the community hub will be a very extensive process, however plans have not gotten quite that far yet.
“We are focusing on the fire station and EMS station, but all of these things will unfold with the passage of time. Once we, next term, start to consider the community hub, we will look at all sorts of public meetings and studies to say what realistically could, or should, be included,” he said.
“Nothing is off the table at this point in time, but it’s all adding millions and millions of dollars once you start adding things," Allen added. "You have to say what can we realistically afford in the next five to 10 years, or is it something we add to?”
While the potential may be limitless, Allen said so much of it depends on the take up of future development in the area.
“We have such significant development going on so a lot depends on the build up of population and what the expectations are and what the realities are of that,” he said.
Due to the unpredictability of the industry and the weather, Allen said construction of the fire hall and EMS station will take place “during the construction season of 2022," adding the first phase will be completed in 2023.
After nearly a decade of legwork, Allen admitted he’s happy to see it finally beginning to take shape.
“If you look at Elmvale… they have a downtown and lots of amenities up there, and that’s great for the north, but with the growing population in the south, we are long overdue for some sort of community hub that involves municipal services, some commercial (services) and… to serve as a central attraction point for the whole township,” he said.
“We need commercial, we need restaurants and we need municipal facilities that aren’t scattered all over the place but that are connected (so) people from all over Springwater can come and enjoy.”
