Allandale is the historic village within the heart of the city of Barrie Ontario. Allandale.ca is our virtual village square. It is open to all individuals and organizations interested in constructive discussion regarding Allandale. To comment on any article, or to post an article of your own, all you need to do is register with a valid email address.

Today, Allandale faces many challenges, from deteriorating infrastructure to social and growth issues. The level of redevelopment in our historic neighbourhood, both imminent and planned, is monumental. Only through awareness and the free flow of information can residents have a meaningful impact on our growth, our governments and our future.

If our edges are rough, it’s because Allandale remains a jewel on Barrie’s waterfront. With its historic buildings and proud railway heritage, Allandale is the historic village in the heart of Barrie, with a bright future, full of potential.

The Barrie Advance. Laurie Watt, STAFF, Sep 14, 2010 – 6:00 AM

BARRIE – The Simcoe County District School Board is pushing ahead with two accommodation review committees – mechanisms that could close or merge city high schools – despite the lack of parents or students involved.

At the board’s finance and facilities meeting Sept. 8, trustees decided to proceed with its plan for the first meeting of a new Barrie committee on Sept. 21. A similar committee in Clearview is scheduled to start two days later.

“Being an old warhorse at ARCs, I can’t help but see a number of red flags boldly coming through. Recruitment. It’s tied to the calendar and the way the school year falls,” said Clearview/Collingwood trustee Caroline Smith. “Would it be possible to put this off for a few weeks, to give all the schools (a chance to fill the spots)?”

In an ARC in her area, Smith noted four of 10 parent spots on the committee are vacant.

On the committee in Barrie, however, seven of 10 parent spots, plus four of five student spots, are unfilled.

“I’d hate to have a meeting to go ahead with just three parents,” said Essa trustee Rob North, who is also on the Barrie ARC. “

“It’s one thing if we’re short just one rep, but it’s another if we’re short seven.”

Barrie Central is the only one of the city’s five high schools to have two parents and a student rep on the committee.

One of the committee’s tasks is examining how to address Central being too expensive to repair and where the school’s 900-plus students could go. Barrie North and Eastview are also projected to face repair issues over the next five to 10 years.

Last spring, the board changed its ARC policy to reduce the number of community representatives – those appointed by the municipality – from two to one. In the Barrie secondary ARC, Barrie, Innisfil, Essa, Springwater and Oro-Medonte get one vote each. Essa has yet to appoint its rep.

In addition to a lack of parents and students, the committee could also see changes prompted by the Oct. 25 election.

Trustees on the committee could change midstream, as most trustees face challengers.

The committees will examine enrolment patterns, the state of the school buildings, and come up with a recommendation on how to best accommodate students.

The board is to approve the committee composition at its regular board meeting Sept. 22 – the day after the Barrie ARC begins its work and the day before the Clearview one meets.

lwatt@simcoe.com

The Barrie Advance. Janis Ramsay, STAFF, Aug 31, 2010 – 6:00 AM

BARRIE – Allandale-area residents, make way for progress.

GO Transit told the Barrie Advance via e-mail it has “recently renamed” the new station the Barrie Waterfront GO Station. When funding was announced in March, the station was called the Allandale GO Transit station.

“As soon as this hits the media, all of the ‘old Allandale’ residents will be upset,” said Brad Rudachyk, co-author of city history book Beautiful Barrie.

“Going forward it may make sense to some, but it’s not in keeping with the local history of the area. It comes down to do you value the history or not?”

The Allandale station was named for Toronto businessman and rail advocate William Allan, who died months before the railway actually reached this area in the 1850s. But the Allandale name isn’t dead in the area, said Rudachyk, as it’s still reflected in the Allendale Recreation Centre, and is the name of the old station on the property.

Mayor Dave Aspden has no problem with the name change. A memo issued to council June 28 about the change also includes renaming the existing Barrie South terminal to the St. Pauls’ GO Station. The reason behind the change is GO Transit doesn’t allow for two stations to include the same name – Barrie – in two different locations.

“The new name identifies that the GO train is available there, and Barrie has one of the greatest waterfronts,” said Aspden. “Allandale is part of the waterfront and I don’t think we’ll ever lose that connection. The new name won’t hurt Barrie.”

Barrie MP Patrick Brown wished he had an opportunity to input his thoughts before a decision was made.

“Unfortunately, we have a tendency to not protect our history,” he said. “We are sharing a third of the cost, and we were not consulted on the name. Allandale speaks to our history.”

The new station includes a side-platform, heated shelters, a kiss-n-ride area, a pedestrian tunnel from the parking lot on Gowan Street and spots for Barrie Transit buses to park. Construction on the tunnel should begin this winter, followed up with the station work starting next spring.

jramsay@simcoe.com