Region considering next steps with former Gilmore Lodge property

The regional government is in the process of figuring out what the former Gilmore Lodge site will be used for.

And there’s a possibility it will involve affordable housing being built in town.

The “Housing-as-a-Priority Lens” was recently endorsed by regional council to “strategically evaluate Niagara Region’s real estate with a view to increasing affordable and attainable housing,” said Angela Stea, the Region’s director of strategic initiatives when asked by Fort Erie Radio about the status of the now-closed long-term care home, which was replaced by a new $85-million facility on King Street when it opened on December 18.

Nothing has been decided regarding the site, but possibilities are being weighed.

Before disposing of Region-owned land, staff evaluate the property to look for opportunities to generate affordable and attainable housing, which could include developing the land for housing.

“Alternatively, regional staff could recommend that the net proceeds from the sale of the property be reinvested in other affordable or attainable housing developments,” said Stea in a statement.

“If it is determined that the property is to be sold, the Region’s disposition of land process will be followed including a circulation to agencies, boards and local municipalities to determine if they have interest in the site,” she added.

Staff are in the process of evaluating options for the property and input from Town of Fort Erie staff is also being sought regarding the future of the site.

A future report to regional council will be considered as a next step, said Stea, noting that no timelines have been confirmed.

Recently, steel fence posts were erected along the perimeter of the Gilmore Road side of the property.

A security vehicle was parked out front on Tuesday afternoon.

Fort Erie Regional Councillor Tom Insinna said it’s “sooner the better” to see the site handed off to someone new.

“You’ve got property sitting there with nobody in it,” he told Fort Erie Radio in an interview Tuesday.

“We can’t hang onto it any longer than we need to,” said Insinna.

But profits brought in from a new owner should be put back into building affordable housing, or housing for seniors in town or both, said Insinna.

He specifically pointed to lands surrounding the footprint of the new Gilmore Lodge building as an ideal spot, something he says he has raised to Niagara Region Housing and other members of regional council.

“That’s my push for 2025,” he said.

At the new facility, there is also a community hub that offers a wide variety of adult day programs for non-residents of the home.

There are 160 beds at the Gilmore Lodge that opened late last year, doubling the number at the previous site.

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