Bio-energy campus on former St. Marys Paper site?
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by: Jordan Allard
The future of the former St. Mary's paper site could include environmentally friendly technology in-line with Sault Ste. Marie’s goal of becoming the alternative energy capital of North America.
Riversedge Development purchased the previous pulp and paper property this spring and redevelopment plans for the area are based around bio-energy technology.
Bio-energy technology produces energy from sustainable sources, such as wood waste.
At Monday's meeting, city council approved an official plan amendment and rezoning to allow former St. Mary's Paper Company property to be used for various commercial, residential and institutional uses; including a bio-energy technology campus with pilot plants relating to renewable energy research.
"This is the next generation use for the site," said Steve Butland, Ward 1 Councilor. "I truly believe these people can work with us hand-in-hand as we move towards the next step."
Butland met with the site owners on Monday afternoon and is confident in their future plans.
Riversedge Development is a Woodstock, Ont. based private partnership who convert industrial or distressed properties into alternative energy and resource recovery sites.
Butland encouraged the rest of council to back their efforts as he feels Riversedge could provide continuation of the former paper mill site in an economic and environmentally beneficial manner.
Ward 6 Councilor Frank Manzo questioned the feasibility of environmentally friendly activities on a surface he feels is anything but.
"Piles of sulfuric acid have saturated into these grounds," said Manzo, who’s worked on the former paper mill site. "I don't see how it could be useable."
Local lawyer Bob Paciocco addressed Manzo's concerns on behalf of Riversedge and said an environmental assesment is currently ongoing.
Along with evaluating the environmental needs of the site, the 35-acre property is being prepared for redevelopment.
Don McConnell, city planning director, stressed approval of the property is based on a holding prevision calling for a detailed review of technical requirements and traffic servicing once a comprehensive plan is put forward by Riversedge.
During the summer and fall, Riversedge met with city staff, the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation and Sault College to examine the options available for the property in the process of formalizing the site’s future.
Preliminary plans include preservation of sandstone structures, subject to a structural assessment of each, and retention of the administration building on Huron Street.
The mill's administrative building is designated an Ontario historical site and can't be demolished, but the sandstone structures don't have similar protection.
Both the Sault Ste. Marie Museum and public library have been invited to identify and select artifacts of historical value for their collections.
Also included in their future plans is incorporation with any potential Gateway site development.
In a report by the city's planning department, Riversedge expressed an interest in working co-cooperatively with plans to develop the Gateway project.
Council approved the rezoning of the former St. Mary's paper area to include their lands within the official plan's definition of the downtown area.
Additionally, council also approved bio-energy technology campus information and technology services for the site.
Those include motion picture and sound recording studios, professional scientific and technical services and pilot plants relating to bioenergy research.
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scottstewy123 9/25/2012 10:06:59 PM ReportI am so glad Mr Manzo asked the right question.Seems Mr Butland has $$$$$ in his eyes. Is the soil pollutted? And if it needs to be cleaned who is stuck for the bill? It better not be the taxpayer.
Wisenheimer 9/25/2012 10:33:07 PM ReportJust like the Gateway site, the St. Mary's property
has decades of chemical and petroleum spills that would make Love Canal look inviting. Removing the contaminated material would probably put the site below sea level.
Another industrial useage, maybe, but anything else, probably not.
MR40 9/26/2012 6:47:22 AM Reporti was under the understanding that if a property was contaminated, you could not build a permenent building on it, that was why our city put up a tent for a casino?
christopher04 9/26/2012 8:29:00 AM Reporthttp://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/scott-stinson-is-mcguintys-energy-strategy-an-unmitigated-disaster-or-just-plain-embarrassing/
Sam C 9/26/2012 8:49:14 AM ReportMR40... the land the "temporary" casino is on was not contaminated. The industrial sites were south of the railway tracks.
The reason for the pre-fab building was that the OLC wanted to gauge how successful a casino would be here before committing to a permanent building. If successful, a permanent building was to be built at the other end of the property, and the pre-fab dismantled and donated to the City.
Nearly 20 years on, the casino has proven to be viable, but still operates out of the "temporary" building.
MR40 9/26/2012 9:15:57 AM Reportdid the property go threw envirmental testing? cause it was a junk yard for 50 years! i would bet that it would not pass if tested. but the question still is, can you build a perment building on contaminated soil? or for that matter,, does any testing need to be done before a commercial building is built anywhere?
mikeS 9/26/2012 9:33:06 AM ReportPeople, it is dirt. There will be buildings, asphalt, and new landscaping over top of the old site. Soil remediation is just another money grab and in my opinion a waste of money. This site has huge potential to display the beauty of our city and waterfront that is second to none. Unfortunately we will probably never see anything that is "nice" due to the fact that the costs to remediate this property are probably worth as much as it would cost to build something decent on it. I often wonder: "Where have the good old days gone?".
sportsfan17 9/26/2012 9:39:42 AM ReportThis is one of the best things that could've happened for this site. All you nay-sayers that are whining about tax-payer money, this is something that tax-payer money SHOULD be spent on.
The older generation did a fantastic job of dumping chemicals into the ground and polluting the river (a guy like Manzo), so I don't have any issue with using their tax money (and mine) to clean it up. I'd like the world I live in over the next 50+ years and the world my kids are going to live in to be a clean, natural and sustainable one. This is one of many steps that needs to be taken to achieve this and I applaud the city and Riversedge.
Along with the preservation and maybe sprucing up of the historical buildings, this is going to be a welcome change in the view when driving over from Soo, Michigan.
geterdun 9/26/2012 11:54:58 AM Reportwell the way the city moves this should be completed by 2080....waste of money.. yea bio-energy Butland....isnt that what was suppose to be at the landfill.....??I recall you butland standing up and praising that company and all the good jobs they were suppose to bring??what happened there butland??that project has been going on for what ten years now with no real jobs or energy coming from there.So what are we to expect from this.prime land sold to an out of towner yea that makes sense.What you should do is put up old folks homes because thats all that will living here in the future..Lukenda can make another bizillion dollars from the old people..Yea then they can all waddle over to the casino (TENT) and spend their pension checks....Sault Ste Marie and their city council members going backwards in time.....thanks for all the jobs? I mean opportunities,Oh never mind it was just a thought I mean a dream.......looking forward to another forty years of watching sudbury get bigger while the Soo gets smaller...Cosco any one????????
MR40 9/26/2012 12:12:43 PM Reportgeterdun!- you are 100 percent right..
Wheels17 9/26/2012 1:02:43 PM ReportWell if there is an environmental clean up on the St. Mary's Paper site, this will be in the ten's of millions of dollars and if they work like our construction companies do in this city, it will take almost 2 or 3 years before the clean up is done and at that point, which ever company it is that wants to build there will put out. We need something that will bring this city back up to what it once was and it needs to be done now and not 5 years from now.
MR40 9/26/2012 2:37:57 PM Reportwell for one thing- this city never will be what it was as long as this country and city lets people buy business from other countrys. oh no wait, they give them a plain ticket and buy it for them..hum!!!
LAWL 9/26/2012 4:55:46 PM ReportReally I couldn't care less what they do with the property, as long as they do not come to us looking for the money to do it. I do not think we should spend a single penny on this property. Just sounds like the normal blah blah blah...
WE will make you the bio energy capital of the world. Just give us the money to do it, lol
mybrad 9/26/2012 7:38:17 PM ReportYes...leave the site the way it is a defunct paper mill at our city's treasure the international bridge crossing...and continue to make unfounded, negative comments and scare these progressive and proactive developers right out of town so we are left with another bare piece of property. As for me and my other 30 year old friends we look forward to sipping on a glass of vino from the balconies of our riverfront condos while our children enjoy an education right next door.
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