Work set for former Hastings arena site
Some soil needs to be replaced before sale closes, Crate says
Trent Hills has announced that the former site of the Hastings arena will be a construction site for the next six months as soil is removed and replaced. The work at 40 Bridge Street will start May 19.
The municipality announced in November 2024 that it had sold the site to a developer for $650,000 and the plan was to construct a three-storey building with retail on the ground floor and apartments above. It has not identified the proposed purchaser.
But the sale has not yet closed and soil analysis is needed before the deal goes through.
Mayor Bob Crate said in an interview that the work is necessary because engineering tests show the soil would not support the building. “There is no contamination, but they have to go in and remove some of the soil because it doesn’t support a residential building.”
“The sampling, field investigation and laboratory analysis is $13,750,” said Chief Planner Jim Peters. “The site preparation, onsite excavation, project management, and site work is $16,000. The municipality pays for the work at this point in the process and the costs are reimbursed when the land sale takes place.”
“Oncer this work is done we will move forward with the sale and once it closes the developer will take over,” Crate said.
The municipality posted a notice on Facebook on May 6 to warn Hastings residents that the site will be fenced off and won’t be available for parking for the next six months.
The arena closed n 2013 and was demolished in 2021 at a cost of $170,000.
In recent months, council has met in closed session to discuss the slow moving sales of the Hastings and Campbellford arenas. No sale has been announced of the Campbellford site.
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