TORONTO—Rampant speculation continues to swirl over the fate of the old OPP station located in Little Current, with the latest rumours suggesting it is slated for demolition.
While The Expositor was unable to confirm or dismiss those rumours, Infrastructure Ontario did respond to indicate the property is still not available for sale.
“Thank you for contacting Infrastructure Ontario (IO) regarding the property at 12 Campbell Street, East in Little Current,” replied Ian McConachie, manager of media relations at Infrastructure Ontario. “The property is not currently available for sale. IO is implementing standard property due diligence work to enable future disposition of the site.”
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Mr. McConachie referred The Expositor to the Infrastructure Ontario website to learn more about the province’s surplus property disposal process.
“Any property within the Infrastructure Ontario portfolio that is no longer required for the delivery of government programs and services is circulated to provincial ministries and agencies to determine if there is a continued government need for the property,” notes the IO website.
“If no provincial government need is identified, the property is considered surplus and is circulated concurrently to other levels of government, registered eligible not-for-profit corporations, public colleges and universities, school boards and eligible indigenous communities,” notes the website. “If any of these entities express interest in the property, IO may proceed to negotiate with the interested party for a sale at market value. This is called a direct sale.”
Government of Ontario approval is required before any property is sold and that approval is obtained through an Order In Council (ministerial signoff).
Prior to any sale, IO conducts its normal due diligence on the property, a process that may include (but not limited to) market value appraisals, title opinions, environmental site assessments, archaeological reports, survey, planning reports, heritage studies of land and building and a duty to consult with First Nations.
Environmental cleanup work was conducted at the property over the past summer/fall, including replacement of old oil tanks and the removal of any contaminated soil/water at the site. A huge plastic container could be seen at the site for much of the summer. Although the unit is meant to collect contaminated water, in the end it was considered a bit of overkill as there was not that much water to be removed from the site.
Properties that are identified as “Open Market Sales” are then listed for sale on IO’s website and are “generally marketed for at least 30 days prior to accepting any offers.”
Once the property is listed for sale, interested parties can contact the property’s broker directly or the IO sales manager for information on the property.
