"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Stupid is As Stupid Does

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Tomorrow ...to the meat of a consultant study":

"Possibly some of the developments occurring in such a facility might be dangerous, explosive, toxic - you take your choice."

Talk about "too stupid for words"!

Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 1 October 2013 23:05


****************

Let me tell you about stupid.

The town is proceeding with plans for a joint works and parks facility to the tune of $20 million.

In the last year of the previous Council, the parks department were evicted from the hydro building 
which  the town owned and suited the parks purpose to a T.

Had they been allowed to move their entire operation  there, the works department could have  taken over the parks building abutting their own at the end of Scanlon Court.

There would be no need to purchase land and build a  new twenty million dollar facility. 

The hydro building was leased to the federal government with a permanent lease  for use by the Queen's York Rangers. 

The town spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fixing it up for the Rangers

The  Rangers in turn,vacated the armouries that occupies a corner of the town park.

It's empty now. And likely to continue so. 

The Region ,by osmosis , became aware of the town's not unused, library building and  how well its   thick floors would lend themselves to installation of heavy machinery.

Without as much as a by-your-leave from the people of the town henceforth  known as "the owners" the Region partnered with Seneca College and proceeded to pursue an opportunity for something known as a Fab/Lab to be established in the town's building on Victoria  Street in Library Square.

Note , the only thing known about a Fab/lab is that it needs thick concrete floors capable of supporting heavy machinery. 

The Aurora Armouries has floors firmly anchored to the ground. For years it housed an entire fleet of army vehicles and served as a drill shed. 

It is owned by the Federal government. 

It is empty.

Not used by anybody. 

Occupying space in the town park.  Not  accessible to the town for any purpose. 

You  want stupid.  There's stupid boy.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We see it. We can't stop it. They have set their course.
At least they haven't figured out a way to screw up the weather. Enjoy these days.

Anonymous said...


This is indeed stupid, STUPID IN SPADES.

Existing buildings could have been used to solve the Works and Parks department space problems.

And there was no need to enter into a lease with the feds at what is no doubt a "peppercorn" rent, after spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on renovations.

The Region can, quite frankly go to hell. They are going to try and impose on us in concert with Seneca College a FAB/LAB. Right in the centre of some of our towns most historic, and thus heritage land. What lunacy is this?

All of these real estate transactions smell of incompetence on the part of Council and may even be described as wilful malfeasance.

Our lands are being plundered and by the sound of things so will our pockets, to the tune of many millions of dollars.

I would suggest that this Council be deferred until after next year's election.

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify, I found the "dangerous, explosive, toxic" comment to be stupid. I believe the FabLab concept to be an intriguing one, particularly if it saves our town's centenary project building from needless demolition.

Anonymous said...


If you GOOGLE "fab lab" one of the sites found will be:
fab.cba.mit.edu

click onto that and across the top right hand click on projects

You will then get a better idea of what might be involved.

MIT is world famed

Anonymous said...

11:19
Nothing wrong with the idea of a Fab Lab. But it should not be on valuable real estate in the centre of Aurora that could be used to create something positive & useful for the entire community. The Fab Lab can locate in any # of unique places including the armoury. It could anchor an entire group of similar projects including perhaps an in-door market complex.

Anonymous said...

My grandad was an ' inventor '. He ' invented ' a machine gun & a dishwasher. Had a shed back of their property near High Park. You would not want someone like him messing around on the former Library lands.

Anonymous said...

14:53

"..it should not be on valuable real estate in the centre of Aurora that could be used to create something positive & useful for the entire community..."

Okay, I'll bite... like what?

Anonymous said...

15:33
That's where imagination should come into play. There are all kinds of suggestions, even some interesting ones right here. A council should be able to create a project of which the town can be proud. Ours seem content to let someone else do all the heavy lifting & creative thinking.

Anonymous said...

Here’s a novel idea….sell it. It’s quite evident the town staff and council can’t get anything off the ground. Take the money and give it back to the residents. Do the same thing with the Hydro fund.
Our down town core is a mess, and council is looking into “investing” in some Heritage sham right beside that traffic disaster that just keeps growing. And now this Library square asset. If the Region and Seneca are interested…sell it! The Town can barely manage the assets and services that they have now. Maybe the Town should look into the idea of downsizing. It’s what some seniors do when they’re in a large home…once it gets too much to manage they sell and down size. It “improves their quality of life”. “Less” can mean “More” and improve the quality of life for ALL residents of Aurora and future generations.

Anonymous said...

20:48
That's not a oval idea but it is beginning to sound better with every passing day. Since Staff & Council can't/won't create a project worthy of using taxpayer money, they should at least try to generate some income to cover their steadily increasing expenditures. I cannot understand why we need more staff and technology when we are doing no more business that 2 or 3 terms ago. Maybe less if you could departing outfits and declining revenues.