Community Consultation: Sarnia General Site Redevelopment.

From Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer.

Some love it; some want more residential.

There wasn’t much room in the middle Tuesday as about 50 people took in the preliminary – a point stressed by proponents – plans for the former Sarnia General Hospital property, should city council give rezoning approval.

“All along we’ve tried to do what the community wants,” said Mark Lumley, one of five businessmen – branded GFive Inc. – tearing down the 1890s-built hospital to make way for new residential, commercial and medical on three hectares (7.5 acres) of land.

Coming out of community consultations last year, what the community wanted first and foremost was to get rid of the blighted buildings, then get mixed-use new builds in, he said.

“That’s what we tried to do here.”

The proposal is tweaked from GFive’s original pitch last summer, when city council agreed to sell 220 Mitton St. and 327 George St. to the group for $1,000 – conditional on GFive knocking down the former hospital and auxiliary buildings and tearing out asbestos, and with more than $5 million thrown in from city coffers to help with demolition cost.

That work is on track to be done by August, Lumley said.

Where the original proposal had two residential lots on Mackenzie Street, the new version instead has three potential Habitat for Humanity build sites on Bright Street.

Eight residential lots are also proposed for Essex Street.

Link to the rest here.

Image. Google Maps.

Thank you for reading.