"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

Sunday 1 June 2014

Excerpt From CAO14-011

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Link is Here":

10:39-I copied and pasted a couple of paragraphs for you.

Adaptive re-use of the properties requires the entire site
Town staff contacted four private development firms who specialize in various types of
land development with one firm having specialized involvement in heritage properties.
With their assistance, staff were able to review basic concepts for development together
with a review of relative profitability of each concept.
None of the contacted developers, however, expressed interest in partnering with the
Town in the adaptive re-use of the lands or creation of a heritage park. This does not
fully indicate that no developer would be interested in advancing a development concept
on their own. To that end, staff would encourage the property owners to continue to
seek development firms that specialize in adaptive re-use of heritage sites to potentially
purchase the Horton Place and Readman House properties.
Through discussions with such firms it became apparent that any adaptive re-use on the
site would most likely require the demolition of the Readman House located on the
Spragg property. The space would be required for parking or additional commercial
CONCLUSIONS
The long term sustainability of Hillary House is important to help preserve the history of
the Town and also to promote future revitalization of the downtown area. Any decisions
pertaining to Hillary House, Horton Place and Readman House must be in keeping and
enhance the Town-approved Promenade Plan, Northeast Old Aurora Heritage
Conservation District Plan and Town of Aurora Strategic Plan.
Based on discussions with land developers and real estate experts, Staff do not believe
that there are any advantages to the Town purchasing the Horton Place and Readman
House properties and then trying to obtain a private partner to develop an adaptive reuse
plan for the lands.
Town staff will continue to work with the Historical Society to achieve a sustainable long
term vision for Hillary House and will help expedite any adaptive re-use plan for the
Horton Place and Readman House properties.

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Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 31 May 2014 20:38

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you., although I am not 10:39... I find that all most interesting mainly because the proponents appear to have left staff to do all the heavy lifting. And to foot the bills.
Aside from that, was there ever any doubt that the one wreck would have to be demolished ?
---- Have a great street sale day - the challenge is to find quality items made in Canada,

Anonymous said...

There is an item at the end of the Agenda about sending that project under the wings of Parks & Recreation. They are not giving up on the blasted thing.