Any notion of renaming the Allandale Waterfront GO station went off the rails at city council last night.
Coun. Mike McCann initially raised the topic last week at general committee, but it was brought up again for discussion at the April 8 city council meeting.
If the motion passed, city staff would be asked to contact Metrolinx, the Crown agency which operates the railway system, to request information on the process and costs associated with changing the names of the two local GO stations and report back to general committee.
The city has two GO stops, including Barrie South at Mapleview Drive and Yonge Street, as well as the Allandale Waterfront station, which is located at the end of the Barrie Line near Tiffin Street.
Coun. Jim Harris questioned whether changing the Allandale Waterfront station's name was warranted and acted upon common sense, particularly as it relates to tourism, which was the prime motivating factor behind McCann's push for a new moniker.
Harris also noted that the Barrie Line is also easily identifiable on transit mapping and platforms, which is something not afforded to GO stops in other areas, such as Oshawa.
"Changing the name of the waterfront station ... is not a tourism windfall," Harris said, adding there have been no complaints to city staff about confusion surrounding the names of the city's two GO stations.
However, one point of confusion, noted by McCann, was the similarity in names for the Allandale Waterfront GO station and the century-old Allandale Station, which sits a stone's throw away.
"There's a real opportunity here that we can embrace the Allandale train station, because we have this beautiful building that we haven't been able to do anything with because we're in the courts right now," McCann said. "We can really sink some tourism dollars into the Allandale train station, where (the name) does have some historical significance.
"The Allandale (Waterfront) GO station has zero historical significance," he added. "It's only been around for six years. The confusion in having two names so close together, I just don't see that being ... the common-sense thing to do."
McCann has suggested the name of the Allandale Waterfront GO station, which opened in January 2012, should be 'Barrie's Waterfront'.
The Allandale Waterfront GO station name was hotly debated in 2011, but McCann said times have changed.
"I truly believe Barrie is changing its identity," said McCann, whose parents emigrated from Scotland in the mid-1970s. "I'm a Barrie boy, through and through. Barrie is not the same city it was 43 years ago. I don't think it's the same city it was 10 years ago."
Mayor Jeff Lehman wondered whether seeking a name change was the proper route to take.
"There's absolutely no harm in this motion. There's no cost to making a phone call," Lehman said.
However, the mayor said it would also re-open another discussion and debate in the community around the station name.
Lehman, who said he has not heard a lot of people raising concerns about the GO station names, also questioned what the response would be from Metrolinx.
"I can tell you what the cost is going to be: Metrolinx is going to say, 'No problem, City of Barrie. You change all our schedules, all of our electronic signs... and so forth," he said. "We can ask the question, but the community is going to say, 'Aren't there better things that could can do?' And, respectfully, there are."
Metrolinx guidelines also stipulate the city cannot have two stations with 'Barrie' in them, in an effort to avoid confusion.
That would mean the likelihood of having to change the Allandale Waterfront GO station name as well as Barrie South, Harris said.
Coun. Barry Ward noted that many cities in southern Ontario only have one GO station.
"Barrie is so lucky that we have two stations. Now I'm not so sure we're so lucky," he joked, following McCann's impassioned plea to look into the name change.
With a transit hub planned for the Allandale Waterfront GO station to connect with city buses, Ward said he wanted to make sure there was no confusion around the names.
"They can't all be called Allandale Station," he said. "It would just cause confusion."
Ward also noted that a search of 'Barrie' on the Metrolinx website only brought up results for the Barrie South station.
"It won't give you the Allandale station, which I found quite interesting. It won't give you the Allandale station unless you type in Allandale," said Ward. "I know we're opening up a whole can of worms tonight."
Coun. Keenan Aylwin said he didn't believe it was "worth the effort" to change the name.
In a recorded vote, the motion to ask city staff to investigate the possible name change was defeated 6-3. Couns. McCann, Ward and Sergio Morales were the only councillors who voted in favour. Couns. Doug Shipley and Clare Riepma were not in attendance at the April 8 meeting.
