Renaming the Barrie South GO Station to St Paul’s GO makes sense. St Paul’s is an old community, formerly part of Innisfil but now part of Barrie. Renaming the station recognizes the history of the area in which the relatively new station is situated.

In contrast, renaming the Allandale GO Station the ‘Barrie Waterfront GO’ is a pure and utter insult to the history of the area and the current Allandale community. It flies in the face of the fine work the city has done with its Historic Neighbourhood Strategy, and its encouragement of a community of neighbourhoods.

Allandale, once the rival town across the bay from Barrie, remains a distinct community to this day. Starting in the 1850s, trains pulled into Allandale Station, once a jewel of the line.

Today, our city is boldly restoring the original station and preparing to build a new GO platform that will bring trains back into the heart of our historic railway community. The respect of these investments is completely undermined by stripping away the Allandale name without public consultation.

If Barrie must be part of the name, add it on without taking away our heritage. Call it the Barrie Allandale GO Station or Allandale Barrie GO.

Let’s leap forward, but not at the cost of our own history. Don’t steal from Allandale while giving to St Paul’s: at very least, Allandale deserves the same respect and tributes.