Hospital condo plan has first hearing at city council

The passion of those who want the former St. Joseph’s Health Centre to become part of Bell Park was in evidence June 27 at the first of two public meetings on a proposed condominium development at the site.

Speaker after speaker railed against the proposal, which would see the former hospital turned into a 190-unit condo development with a multi-storey parking garage, a wellness centre and restaurant.

“We’re trying to turn a pumpkin into a Cadillac, and it just won’t work,” said Dr. Evan Roberts, a physician who not only lives in the area, but also used to work at the hospital. “We need to look at the DNA of this project.”

Roberts argued that turning land zoned institutional into high density residential goes against the city’s own Official Plan and the wishes of the Bell family.

“We’re violating the Bell Park Covenant,” he said. “Anyone who says we aren’t is not (correct).”

That was a theme of many of the speakers, many of whom were barely able to control their anger at what they view as a betrayal of the Bell family if the condo project goes ahead. But Eric Taylor, the city’s manager of development services, gave a detailed history of the covenant and the lands surrounding it. He said Bell Park was given to the city in 1926, totaling about 145 acres, with the condition it be used only as parkland for residents to enjoy. Using satellite photos, the area of the covenant was detailed in green.

“Those lands were transferred in 1926 from William and Catherine Bell to the Town of Sudbury,” Taylor said. “As you can see, those lands are largely south of the area we’re talking about today.”

The Sisters of St. Joseph acquired the northern half of the hospital property – about seven acres -- from the Stafford family in 1944, Taylor said. The Bell family gave the southern portion of where the hospital now sits to the city in 1944, who then gave the land to the sisters in 1945 to build the hospital.

“So all those lands were outside of the original 1926 covenant lands,” Taylor said. “None of the covenant land was part of the transfer.”

More land swaps took place between the sisters and the city over the years, Taylor said, but none of those swaps involved property that was part of the 1926 covenant.

Many Sudburians had hoped that once the hospital closed, the city would buy the property and turn it into parkland. However, former Mayor John Rodriguez said at the time the city couldn’t afford to buy the property and demolish the buildings, and it was sold to a private developer, Panoramic Properties. Panoramic, based in Niagara Falls, owns seven existing properties in Greater Sudbury.

Panoramic’s $30-million plan would see 190 units built at the site of the old hospital; 125 units would be contained in the old hospital itself, with another 65 incorporated in a new, five-storey building that would be built after the current Mason building is demolished.

A three-story parking structure would be built at the far end of the property close to Boland Avenue, where most of the traffic would be routed. It would accommodate 239 vehicles, with additional 92 spaces in front of the main building and 40 more underground. Community gardens would be built on the roofs, and people with rooftop condos would have terraces, as well.

Total construction would take two to three years. There would be no rentals, and the condos would be higher-end and sold for at least $250,000-$500,000 each.

Plans also include a 150-200-seat restaurant overlooking Ramsey Lake, which would be built where the helipad is now, and a wellness centre, both of which would be open to the public. Bell Park Road, a laneway that runs behind the old hospital, partly on city land, partly on Panoramic’s, would be redeveloped to handle more traffic.

Probably the most contentious rezoning application the plan must clear is to have a triangular-shaped section of the property where the parking structure would be built rezoned from open spaces – parkland -- to residential.

The June 27 meeting was held only to gather input from the public on the proposal; a second meeting, likely in the fall, will be held when staff will prepare a more detailed report on the plan and will recommend whether to approve it.

Mayor Marianne Matichuk asked project architect Michael Allen whether Panoramic would be interested in partnering with the city to turn the former hospital parking lot, which isn’t part of the development, into a park area for the public.

"We could have a win-win,” Matichuk said. “It’s something that we should at least address (with Panoramic).”

“We welcome the opportunity to work with the city to form an alliance,” Allen replied. “But first we need direction from council, we need direction from the public” about exactly what they want to see there."

A surprise presenter at the meeting was Dr. Terrance Galvin, director of Sudbury’s new school of architecture. He said councillors should realize that this is no ordinary conversion of a public institution into a private development. When the land was given to the sisters, the idea was the public would benefit during their recovery in hospital by enjoying the park and view of Ramsey Lake. But allowing private condo owners exclusive access to the area is an entirely different matter, Galvin argued.

“There is a very deep, important issue for council to listen to,” he said.

Posted By Darren MacDonald