Allandale Waterfront GO Station

For other railway stations named Allandale, see Allandale station.
Allandale Waterfront
Location 285 Bradford Street, Barrie
Ontario, Canada
Coordinates 44°22′27″N 79°41′16″W / 44.37417°N 79.68778°W / 44.37417; -79.68778Coordinates: 44°22′27″N 79°41′16″W / 44.37417°N 79.68778°W / 44.37417; -79.68778
Owned by Metrolinx/City of Barrie
Line(s) formerly The Canadian, Northlander
Platforms 1 side platform
6 bus bays
Tracks 1 + 1 bypass
Connections Barrie Transit
Construction
Parking 150
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code GO Transit: ADGO
Fare zone 69
History
Opened 19 June 1905
Closed 1980; rails lifted 1996
Rebuilt 2011
Previous names CHUM Limited
Services
Preceding station   GO Transit   Following station
TerminusBarrie

Allandale Waterfront GO Station,[1][2] was built just south of Allandale Station, a historic train station that occupies a large property on the southern shore of Lake Simcoe in the waterfront area of Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

Construction of the new facility began in 2009. GO Transit announced on 15 June 2011 that the station would open in the autumn of 2011,[3][4] but construction delayed its opening until January 2012. Bus service to the station began on 28 January 2012, with the train service following two days later.[5]

A ceremonial train trip from Allandale Waterfront GO Station to Bradford GO Station officially opened the station on 29 January 2012.[6]

Due to the stations location relative to the train yard in Barrie, trains must reverse into the station to pick-up passengers, then drive back forward through its original resting place to continue the route.

History

Old Allandale Station undergoing renovations

Early years

The Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Union Railroad (OS&HURR) first built a station here in 1853. The current structure, the fourth station building on the site, was designed by the architectural firm Spier and Rohns,[7] built in 1904 by Richard Scruton, and opened by then-operator Grand Trunk Railway on 19 June 1905.[8][9] The station provided passenger service for the Grand Trunk and later the Canadian National Railway and Via Rail until closing in 1980.[9] It briefly reopened as a GO passenger facility from 1990 to 1993. In 1996 the CNR lifted rails between Allandale and Longford.

ACDC

The Allandale Community Development Corporation or 'ACDC' (with City interests) purchased the buildings and adjacent 7 acres (28,000 m2) from CNR after train service discontinued in the 1980s.[10] ACDC then sold the station to CHUM Ltd in 2000.

CHUM ownership

CHUM Ltd. purchased the 6.9 acres (28,000 m2) of land, including the station buildings for $1,050,000 in 2000. CHUM planned to restore the Allandale Station building as part of their plan to develop of a new broadcast centre on the site, though changed their plan in 2004. In 2007 CHUM agreed to sell the property to the City for the same amount CHUM originally paid. CHUM received a Charitable Donation Tax Receipt reflecting the increased value of the property since 2000 largely due to the restoration and site works completed by CHUM.[11]

Redevelopment

Construction of the new Allandale Waterfront GO Station (located adjacent to the historic Allandale Station) broke ground in spring 2010 and the station officially opened on 28 January 2012. Redevelopment of the station cost approximately $5 million.[12]

The area of the historic station is currently undergoing two remaining stages of redevelopment: (i) the City of Barrie is undertaking the restoration of the historic Allandale Station, and (ii) the City of Barrie is undertaking the restoration of Gowan Street, which borders the southern edge of the station lands. The area is expected to become a new transportation and cultural hub of the city once all the construction is complete.

Heritage station buildings

The station buildings comprise a federally designated heritage railway station protected by the Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act.[13] The Italianate structures are near the southwest shore of Kempenfeldt Bay in Lake Simcoe, separated from it by a public park.[14][15] The station complex was originally adjacent to Kempenfeldt Bay until the land behind the station was infilled and levelled to build a rail yard.[14]

The station complex consists of a station building, an office building, and a restaurant adjacent to each other along the rail line. They have a uniform roof pitch, and form an atypical layout for a railway station.[14] The low-pitched roof and deep overhanging eaves are indicative of Prairie School design influence.[15] Two of the buildings were designed in 1904 by the Detroit firm Spier & Rohns.[15]

The interior and exterior features of the buildings are provincially protected under an Ontario Heritage Trust conservation easement.[15] The station building was considered the "flagship of the Grand Trunk" upon its opening.[14]

Services

The Barrie line has weekday service consisting of seven trains southbound to Union Station in the morning, and seven trains northbound from Union Station in the afternoon. During the months of July and August, bidirectional weekend service is also provided. As of 29 June 2013, the service consists of 4 trains in each direction between Allandale Waterfront Station and Union Station.[16]

Connecting buses

Barrie Transit
GO Transit

Archeology

The Allandale station site was subject of an archeological excavation, during which objects were recovered from the Uren substage of the Middle Ontario Iroquoian period.[15] It has been dated to the late 12th to early 13th century, and was used as a fishing station by the Iroquois.[15] It is the only documented fishing station from the Uren period, and one of few sites of that period to have been discovered.[15]

The site is regarded by archeologists as a temporary location "for exploitation of local fish resources".[17] Numerous fish remains were found in the site's midden, but no longhouses were found there.[17]

Analysis of the fish remains indicates that various species were caught for consumption at this site. These include species in the Catostomidae family (110 White Sucker, 23 Longnose Sucker, and 103 specimens from other Catostomus species), Percidae family (34 Yellow perch and 1 Walleye), as well as 12 Ictaluridae, 14 largemouth bass and 4 smallmouth bass, 5 Centrarchidae, and specimens from several other species.[17]

In 2011, human bone fragment remains were discovered underneath the crawl space of the office building at the site during an excavation for an archeological site assessment as part of grading work for the new train station.[18] These were later determined to have been in the fill used as backfill for the foundation, but was of indeterminate origin.[18] An incisor found amongst those remains was interpreted to be part of the Uren archeological material, but data is insufficient to ascertain its ultimate origin.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Ramsay, Janis (3 May 2011). "Station named Allandale Waterfront". Simcoe.com. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  2. ↑ Bruton, Bob (June 2011). "Station names a GO". The Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Colebatch, Cathy (1 October 2009). "Go Expands Barrie Line with more service, new station". The Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  4. ↑ Kalinowski, Tess (15 June 2011). "GO expands Barrie line with more service, new station". Toronto Star. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  5. ↑ McInroy, Ian (21 January 2012). "New GO station is ready to go". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  6. ↑ McInroy, Ian (27 January 2012). "GO rolls out free train trip". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca". www.historicplaces.ca. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  8. ↑ Boos, Josephine, Allandale Station, Simcoe County Historical Association
  9. 1 2 Smith, Jeffrey P. (28 August 2009). "CNR Allandale". CNR in Ontario. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  10. ↑ Urban Explorer
  11. ↑ municipal press release
  12. ↑ Bruton, Bob (11 January 2012). "Train station tab picking up steam". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "The Directory of Designated Heritage Railway Stations in Ontario". Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Parks Canada. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Canadian National Railways Allandale Station at Barrie". Parks Canada. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Allandale CNR Station". Parks Canada. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Barrie Line Seasonal Schedule" (PDF). GO Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 Hawkins, Alicia L.; Caley, Erin (2012). "Seasonality, Mass Capture, and Exploitation of Fish at the Steven Patrick Site, a Uren Period Village near Kempenfelt Bay". Ontario Archaeology. 92: 95–122. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 Henry, Michael B. (27 August 2011). "2011 Stage 3 Archaeological Site Assessment of Human Remains within the Crawl Space of the "Office Building" at the Allandale Train Station, Barrie, Ontario" (PDF). Amick Consultants Limited and City of Barrie. AMICK File #11784-P/MTC File #P058-767-2011. Retrieved 13 May 2014.

External links

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