Listen to me Carefully

Council recently resolved to inquire into possibilities of acquiring  the Aurora Armouries.

Last night a report was submitted  behind closed doors. It's odd how speedily some directions are followed.

The report confidential.  You can't know what Council knows.

Except  what you already know and with  a little digging you  can discover.

The land was given to Queen Victoria for a drill shed. For men to come there and march and counter march .present arms ,stand to attention, stand down , fall down on one knee and don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes.

It was a time men marched into battle.  An American invasion was on the horizon.  Queen's York Rangers had their beginnings in New Hampshire under the name of Rogers Rangers ,they were an expeditionary  force,  Had there been an invasion, who's to say, it might  have been  the  Rogers Rangers soon to become Queen's York Rangers.

But I digress ... the drill shed sits within  lot lines of the property given to the Queen for  a nominal sum  in at that time sterling currency. Probably a shilling. Maybe
one and sixpence.

So.... facts established... land was  given to the  Old Queen for next to nothing  For a hundred years the Feds have had free use of it.

 Zoning would be unheard of .  Current use would be non-conforming.

No property  attached .No potential for adaptive re-use.

No parking possible.  Inadequate side yards. No rear yard. No space for planting to protect the neighbours.

None of the normal requirements. Like I said...non-conforming.

The Department of National Defence  recently sought heritage designation  for the building. The town obliged.

One wonders....why would they do that?

A  restrictive bylaw registered  against  title. No change can be made that would change the  character
of the building.

What character ?
It's a  drill shed.
The only thing remarkable is that it's still upright.

Now the question for readers to ponder ...what is the value of  a property without potential use in the private sector...that owes nothing to the public sector. ???

There will  likely be a test on this question.