Once the vibrant heart of Allandale – a thriving village that shone brightly along the line of the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway (later the Grand Trunk Railway) – the 1906 Allandale Station was more than a destination.

It was a place where people connected. Nearby was a bustling commercial district, with hotels, banks, a bakery as well as a pharmacy and flower shop, hardware and general merchants. Not far was an industrial area.

That vibrancy is what Barrie would like the see again.

“With all the new growth Barrie has experienced over the years, Allandale has been neglected – by the city and by many of the local business property owners. (Council) recognized the damage Allandale has suffered and is prepared to do something about it,” said Ward 8 Coun. Jerry Moore – who also chairs the city’s Corporate Services Committee.

Today, there’s no bank, no grocery store, no bakery. The closest to a general merchandise store is the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Barrie is trying to not only preserve the station but redevelop its site to spark revitalization there and beyond onto streets like Gowan, Tiffin and Innisfil. Barrie needs to ensure every decision supports its vision of becoming a live-work-play community, with a well-rounded economy and a creative workforce.

Next Tuesday, Moore’s committee will examine two proposals for the site – one by Shutters Restaurant owner Mark Porter and his partners Forecast Inc., the other by the YMCA of Simcoe-Muskoka.

Either way, “We will be creating a high-traffic area which will result in increased commercial activity and a revitalization of the Allandale community,” the ward councillor added.

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After Barrie called for proposals, an economic downturn made the question and its answers are more complex. Cutting-edge economist Dr. Richard Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute, has proven arts and culture attract the inventive and entrepreneurial “creative class”.

At the same time, retail suffers as consumers curtail spending. In Barrie, three major retail developments are underway – Park Place, the Osmington redevelopment of the event centre and Mady, includes a Home Depot in the city’s north end.

City politicians are being challenged to think a little differently – to look not only at the site, but beyond it to the community, its residents and their lives.

Despite the economic downturn, a city staff report supports Porter’s plan because Porter has immediate access to money and more of it and has restored heritage buildings. Senior real estate officer Peter Dyck recommended retail for the nine-acre site, which will also likely feature a second GO station.

Allandale Market Village would showcase the restored station; paying the ticket would be a retail complex, with possibly a six storey hotel. Dyck suggested the proposal would bring in 1.4 million visitors each year and inject roughly $28 million – although he acknowledged those numbers are not based on research.

“It’s a long road ahead, and we’re trying to pull together a very early concept so we can work with the city and its people to take it to the next level. It’s a decision of retail/hotel or a YMCA,” said Porter.

Along with Forecast Inc. – a “community-driven developer” with projects in Alliston, Collingwood and Orangeville – Porter said he is looking to restore the station to its former glory.

“The train station will be the absolute jewel. We will put on the original tower (that’s) been gone for 50 years. You’ll be able to look down the rail tracks from the tower. You’ll have a grand ballroom that could possibly be used for a dance school during the day and in the evenings and weekend, possibly for live entertainment and grand weddings.”

The proposal also includes arts – a sector consistently shown to attract creative entrepreneurs, as well as bolstering cultural tourism, one of the more-stable tourist markets.

 “We see it as having an arts display on one side, with art lessons. You could have a tea house and coffee shop,” Porter said, and a reflecting pond and nostalgic vendors, such as walnut-roasters, would add to the appeal.

“It will be very tourist-oriented and draw people to the waterfront.”

A private marina would complete it. “We hadn’t thought of it initially, but it was something the city thought it might like to see,” said Porter. “It’s not impossible, but it would take a bit of time (possibly as long as four years) to jump all the hurdles. Look at the people who come to Orillia by boat; it would be wonderful for Barrie to have some boating facilities here at the end of the bay.”

Porter summed it up: the Y doesn’t fit. Moreover, he would begin spending immediately.

“This will be an instant injection that will turn this town around,” he said. “We have (some) of the most valuable acres of waterfront in the city and why are we thinking of putting a YMCA there?”

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That’s a question the YMCA Canada can answer.

Offering a different vision, YMCA Simcoe Muskoka wants to create a place where people can relax and build better bodies, minds and spirits. The Y would be returning to its roots in the community, as ironically, the first local Y was located in Porter’s restaurant.

The Y envisions bringing all its services into one $19.8-milllion, 70,000-square foot building: from fitness and recreation to childcare, to immigrant services and youth leadership. The Y argues its plan would build a better community and points to a prime example in Calgary.
YMCA Canada president and CEO Wayne Perkins has seen what the Eau Claire Y has done there.

“The Eau Claire Y has many different faces. Every weekday in the morning, it has one, and later in the morning, another one with non-working families coming in. In the later afternoon, it has another feel and also on the weekends,” explained Perkins.

At noon, the downtown workers work out. In the late afternoons, there’s a combination of professionals picking up their children, kids in youth leadership programs and swimming lessons. Adults come in to work out, generally the young professionals who don’t have to go home to make dinner. Friday night is teen night.

“The mix of people is key. That’s what will keep the whole area alive. You have various faces of people coming in.”

Locating the Y strategically can also help the Y become even more of a community leader, he added.

“From what I have seen of the (Allandale station) concept, it makes a lot of very good sense for a Y in that part of the community. It’s right back to the roots, where the original Y was. Given the interaction of the waterfront, it makes a lot of sense. It would enhance the whole area.”

Former Calgary Downtown Association executive director Richard White agreed.

“Recreation becomes much more of a catalyst for redevelopment and revitalization than retail,” he said, as he told the story of transforming a downtrodden area with little more than the municipal bus yard.

The Eau Claire YMCA links people to a nearby walking/running path along the river. Calgary, meanwhile, created an open plaza area where runs start and finish.

“They come off of the Y onto the plaza and a public pathway. The river, with its tree lines, is a wonderful place to run. It’s a combination of the Y and it’s being situation in an area that could complement it from a recreation viewpoint,” he said.

“People would go there and go running. They could run after work or on a Saturday or Sunday. They work there, and eventually asked why they couldn’t live there.”

The area now features a variety of housing.

As well as recreation, the Y offered childcare, which also bolstered activity and brought in a more diverse group of people.

As well as the Y, Calgary used recreation to rebuild another area with its own Lindsay Park complex, he noted.

“For cities with young people and young families, that’s what people want to do,” White said.

“It’s a meeting place, a gathering place.”

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The debate about the site and the options aside, the wider context urges municipal leaders to think beyond the bottom line.

Dr. Florida told Barrie and regional civic leaders they needed to think creatively – to not only attract and expand but also develop the entrepreneurial creative class.

“One piece of advice to Barrie – you have to be the kind of place in which each person can find their dream. We need to be able to find our dream and self-express,” he said, noting that with technology, the most creative and the most entrepreneurial can locate anywhere in the wired world.

“Place is the basic social and economic organizing unit of our time,” he explained. What drives economic growth are not companies that do things more efficiently; the real key is to create new things, new work and new kinds of jobs. That comes from people living in a community. When we build these cities, we make each other more productive.”

Following along Florida’s theory that diversity builds more-inclusive, more-creative and wealthier communities is Rick Haldenby, an associate professor and director of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and a specialist in mid-sized city redevelopment.

“I certainly think retail is a component of a healthy core, but I don’t think retail in and of itself is the answer,” he said, adding he has focused on the impact post-secondary institutions have on revitalizing an area. What post-secondary institutions and recreational facilities share is the variety of people they bring in at various times throughout the day, he explained.

He cautioned the decision to not approve retail  – with its instant tax revenue – can seem risky. Using education and recreation to redevelop a community “requires some intestinal fortitude and the part of the politicians to make it happen,” he said.

Tourism Barrie executive director Kathleen Trainor also suggested the city think beyond the present.

“A train station could potentially have hundreds of thousands of people coming through. (Neither Porter nor the Y) has approached us; they haven’t considered tourism, a train station as a hub for tourism,” she said, adding in Europe, train stations are where people gather and connect.

And as Highway 400’s reputation for traffic jams slows tourist dollars from heading north, the potential for a GO train station opens more opportunity – especially with the city’s line to Collingwood, which could also be developed as a tourist line.

“There’s huge potential of Barrie being the central gateway,” she said. “Both proposals need to be looking at the bigger picture of what a train station and hub could be in 20 years.”