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CTV News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
City of Windsor seeks to purchase former Windsor Stadium property
The City of Windsor will issue an expression of interest to try and purchase the former Windsor Stadium property. During an in-camera session Monday, council voted to direct administration to submit an expression of interest (EOI) to the province in the hopes of buying the land at 2365 McDougall St. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says they will go through the process and see if they make it to the end. 'There is interest around the city council table to acquire the Windsor Stadium property, which should be no surprise,' he says. 'It's something we've talked about for many years, wanting to incorporate that into Jackson Park and the potential of a housing project there. We'll see where we get at the end of the day, but we'll move forward with that acquisition.' Earlier this month, the city learned that the Greater Essex County District School Board, through the Ontario government, had listed the land for sale for the purpose of housing development. The fair market value for the property is expected to be just under $3 million. Because the purchase was not included in the city's 2025 budget, council would have to find and then approve the money needed. Dilkens says this will take the province some time to go through. 'We're not too worried about needing the money today. We think it's something that can be worked through in a future budget. We're already at the end of May. By the time the province reviews what it needs to review and makes a decision and closes the transaction, you're probably close to the end of the year or into next year already,' he says. Council's decision to submit an expression of interest for the land has put the future of the bandshell in Windsor's Jackson Park on the back burner until the property issue is resolved. A report on the issue was deferred during Monday's council meeting, as the acquisition of the Windsor Stadium property, which borders the area of the bandshell in Jackson Park, could impact any future decision. Administration recommends council cancel a request for proposals to conduct a feasibility study on the bandshell due to the cost being above the $120,000 budget set for the study. The report to council warned there is a significant financial risk associated with conducting the feasibility study and that if it moves forward, there may be findings that determine additional testing might be required, such as soil or environmental, at additional costs. Administration instead recommends the council consider a symbolic monument/memorial to the site, such as an Emancipation Celebrations Monument within Jackson Park. In the 1940s and 1950s, the original bandshell hosted Emancipation Day celebrations that drew crowds for speeches from civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was destroyed in a fire and replaced by the existing bandshell, which fell into disrepair and has been used for storage by the city since then. — Rusty Thomson/AM800 News
CBC
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Province reviewing options for Windsor Stadium amid push for Jackson Park band shell restoration
Social Sharing A key piece of public property that Windsor's mayor says stands in the way of any effective restoration of the Jackson Park bandshell could soon be up for grabs. A spokesperson for Ontario's minister of education is confirming that Windsor Stadium is going through a process that could lead to its sale. The neglected public school board property is now being considered for new uses by the province and Mayor Drew Dilkens has suggested it could be purchased by the city. Windsor's English public school board has submitted the Windsor Stadium track and field property to the Ministry of Education as a site they want to get rid of. Ontario is considering potential alternate uses for the site, which could include housing development, but "it would be premature to speculate on the outcome of the review at this time," said a spokesperson for Ontario's education minister. Taxpayers have made continuous plea for renovated band shell This first came to light when Windsor's mayor abruptly halted Monday's council meeting. People were pleading for city council to spend money on a study that could present options for the future of the decrepit Jackson Park bandshell. Dilkens said he told council in private session that the Windsor Stadium property could soon be for sale, which could change options for the site moving forward. Current condition of Jackson Park bandshell 'shrugging' off Windsor's story, says historian 4 years ago Duration 1:28 Kimberly Simmons' grandfather chaired Emancipation Day ceremonies in Windsor that would draw hundreds of thousands of people from across North America. Dilkens has in the past opposed spending money on a study that would look at how to restore the Jackson Park bandshell because he believes it can't be done without owning the track field and grandstand behind the site. The bandshell holds great significance in Windsor's history because it was the home of massively attended Emancipation Day celebrations. But it's now rotted away, sitting idle for decades without being used except to store city equipment. The version that stands at Jackson Park now is not the same one that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at in 1956. That's because a fire destroyed the building a year later. City council is expected to discuss paying for the Jackson Park band shell feasibility study again at its next council meeting. Staff now believe the initial $120,000 estimated for the study is not enough because they believe it will require a Heritage Impact Assessment. However, the chair of the Windsor Region Society of Architects has wrote to council saying that the city's asking for qualifications that are "excessive and will inflate the costs" involved in the study.
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Bandshell future on hold as city eyes Windsor Stadium land.
City council is holding off on deciding the future of the Jackson Park bandshell in Jackson Park as it explores an opportunity to buy the nearby Windsor Stadium property. During Monday's council meeting, a debate around whether a request for proposals should be issued to study the feasibility of the future of the bandshell was unexpectedly halted when Mayor Drew Dilkens called council in-camera to share some information that could impact their decision. When the council returned, the debate over the future of the bandshell was deferred to the next meeting of the council. Following the meeting, Dilkens told the media that the city had received information late last week that the Greater Essex County District School Board, through the Ontario government, had listed the stadium land for sale for the purpose of housing development. The stadium lands back on Jackson Park in the area of the bandshell. Dilkens says the prospect of housing development on the land next to the bandshell would impact any decision made by council. He says the fair market value for the land at 2365 McDougall St. is just under $3 million, and it's something council needs to discuss, as any potential purchase was not budgeted for. Dilkens says he's been saying since 2019 that he'd like the city to purchase Windsor Stadium. 'It makes a lot of sense to incorporate it into the Jackson Park piece that we already own. At the end of the day, though, if it's only for housing purposes, we need to figure out if it's something we need to do,' he said. 'If it's a function of Housing Solutions Made for Windsor, are we best to take that property to work through the process or let it go to the private sector and let them do what they're going to do?' According to Dilkens, council knows it's going to be very expensive to restore that bandshell and members know there would be fair market purchase of the property. 'Council needs to figure out whether they have the money, whether they want to take that property and put it in the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor portfolio, and then consider if we're successful on those fronts, how does that impact the work you may or may not do on future bandshell restoration?' he says. The administration report before the council recommended that a request for proposals to conduct a feasibility study be cancelled due to the cost being above the $120,000 budget set for the study. The report warned there is a significant financial risk associated with conducting the feasibility study and that if it moves forward, there may be findings that determine additional testing might be required, such as soil or environmental, at additional costs. Administration instead recommended council consider a symbolic monument/memorial to the site, such as an Emancipation Celebrations Monument within Jackson Park. In the 1940s and 1950s, the original bandshell hosted Emancipation Day celebrations that drew crowds for speeches from civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was destroyed in a fire and replaced by the existing bandshell, which fell into disrepair over the years. - Rusty Thomson/AM800 News
