Saugeen Shores council passed a motion to support, in principle, a proposal to incorporate the historic Port Elgin and North Shore Railroad into the park’s new design.
There will be another round of public feedback sought as plans for the North Shore Park’s design are finalized. The Town is working to rehabilitate the Port Elgin waterfront park after it endured a significant amount of damage from storms in September 2021 and December 2022.
On Tuesday’s meeting, council heard an updated proposal from Scott Pearson, who owns the original North Shore Railroad engine that operated from 1973-78. Pearson’s proposal would bring an operational railroad back to the park, as well as other tourist attractions like mini golf, a gift shop and an artisan charcuterie and wine garden to support his business plan and assist to offset the cost of running the steam train.
During discussions, some members of council expressed reservations about moving forward with Pearson’s proposal. They were reminded that the vote was not to grant final approval to the project, but simply move it to a stage where more feedback will be sought.
“I have heard for so long how much people want that train,” saids Mayor Luke Charbonneau. “And so I feel an obligation to put that proposal in front of them and say, here’s the train, tell me, do you want it this way or not… I think it’s important to remember that any expression of support from council tonight is contingent on a final vote on a lease agreement. Until we vote in favour of a lease agreement, there is no project.”
The motion passed five-to-three, with Deputy Mayor Diane Huber and Councilors Dave Myette and Bud Halpin voting against. Myette said he couldn’t support the train if it wasn’t electric, Huber was reluctant to devote so much public space to private interest and Halpin questioned whether there was that much support for the proposal, given that there were only 31 comments in favour of the train from the first round of consultation.
“The idea of having a train is nice, but we’re going to have a train, train station, all the buildings, mini golf, we’ve got to move the playground. There’s going to be very little space for reflective area,” says Halpin. “Now if the good people of Port Elgin want to have a train, I’ll support that. But I really need to hear from the people of Port Elgin that that’s what they want. I’m really glad we’re having a second consultation about that and I just encourage the public to express their opinion to council, so that whatever we end up with here, we get it right.”
The next step for town staff is bringing on a landscape architect to help consider options for the park’s redesign and facilitate consultation. The town will also do another round of public consultation this summer.
A vote on a potential lease agreement should take place in the fall. If approved, the Port Elgin and North Shore Railroad is projected to reopen in Summer 2025.
