Oro-Medonte acquires Edgar property

Barrie Examiner December 2 2010
Oro-Medonte Township has acquired 42 acres of forested land from the former Edgar Occupational Centre property, Mayor Harry Hughes said.

The Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC,) which now owns the property, sold the chunk of land, located at the north end of the 126-acre site, to the township for an undisclosed nominal amount.
The entirely wooded area is situated on the Oro Moraine.
“It’s going to be used for passive recreation,” Hughes said. “Forty-two acres of the Oro Moraine has been put into the public hands for forever more.”
The former Edgar Occupational Centre property, at the corner of Bass Lake Sideroad and County Road 57, was closed in 1999 in the government’s effort to shift away from institutionalized care in favour of community dwellings.
The property once featured 82 dwellings, a church, a bowling alley, a gym, a swimming pools, tennis court and baseball diamond.
The ORC took possession of the property after its closure and is still in the process of negotiating the sale of the rest of the land.
“We’ve made quite a bit of progress on the file in reaching an agreement. We’re optimistic, but the deal at this point hasn’t closed,” Jeff Giffen, communications advisor for the ORC, said in November.
Hughes said there is no time-line for when the township will officially take ownership of the 42 acres.
Located at one of the highest points of southern Ontario, Hughes added that the property has a “great view.”