Barber Mill New Proposal by Everlast

The historic Barber Mill, located in the beautiful Credit River Valley on River Drive in Georgetown has long been a topic of conversation and speculation. As the first photo illustrates, there is a proposal by the owner of the property, Everlast Group, to redevelop the site.

At last Monday's Council Meeting there was a public meeting on this application which is drastically changed from the original proposal that was brought forward in 2004. The old proposal was a very intense redevelopment and included a hotel and a 14 storey apartment building. Although Council was not asked to approve the application at that time, concern was expressed about the intensity proposed particularly around the apartment building. In addition there were concerns from Credit Valley Conservation about development in the floodplain. On the heritage side, the proposal did include adaptive reuse of some of the structures currently on the property.
Subsequent to the original proposal being presented, I attended a meeting with the developer and other town officials. The developer expressed distress at the length of time it was taking to deal with his proposal and the fact that vandalism and nature were taking a toll on the heritage structures. He told us that his engineer's advice was to demolish the buildings and rebuild using whatever materials could be salvaged.
A wholesale demolition of the buildings was not something that Council wished to see happen and so it was decided that we should go ahead and have the Barber Mill designated as a heritage site. It should be noted that the developer had always contemplated this happening but not until after his development had been built.

The new proposal from Everlast is quite different from the original. It no long includes any residential component. It does include a 65 room hotel, restaurant and specialty shops. The intent is for it to be a tourist destination that focuses on the spectacular views and the adaptive reuse of the heritage buildings.
In the 6 years since the original proposal was presented there has been much public interest in how this site is to be treated. A group called the Credit Valley Heritage Society was incorporated in 2008 to specifically deal with this site. Their position, as presented on Monday night was that the site should be purchased by the Town and converted into a museum, presumably operated by the Town as well.

One important aspect that should be emphasized is that the application is consistent with the zoning that currently exists on the site and therefore the property owner has a right to develop this property. It is more a question of how the property is developed than if the property can be developed. Therefore, purchase of the property by the Town would require either a change of heart by the developer or an expropriation at fair market value.
At this point there are many concerns with the application that have yet to be resolved. For example Credit Valley Conservation has many issues that must be addressed.
From my point of view, this is a site that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later as the buildings really are falling apart with each passing week. The heritage aspect of the Barber Mill is undeniable and every effort should be made to bring new life and public access to the buildings.

I would be interested in knowing your opinion on this issue. Do you support the private development of the site or would you prefer this to be undertaken using your tax dollars?