In addition to some of the notable newsmakers and key concerns for Bradford in 2024 and beyond, here are some of the most-attention grabbing articles from 2024.
Town hub opening
After more than two years of construction, Bradford celebrated the official grand opening of the town’s social services and community hub at 177 Church St. on June 27.
A renovation of the old Bradford Public School, the now 2,787-square-metre facility, is home to the Helping Hand Food Bank, WOW Living, Catulpa Community Support Services, and Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions.
There’s also rentable community spaces, including three programming rooms and a multi-purpose room double the size of the gymnasium it replaces and featuring a commercial-grade kitchen.
The north wing of the building is mostly dedicated to the food bank, while the south wing is mostly for WOW Living, and the whole building wraps around a central courtyard.
On June 4, council voted to include in budget discussions a concept for a new park on the roughly .45-hectare empty field to the east of the hub, which recreation and cultural services director Terry Foran estimated would cost about $691,640. That has since been added to the 10-year forecast and is expected to come up for revised cost estimate and approval in 2026 or 2027.
The town purchased the1.2-hectare property from the Simcoe County District School Board for $5.1 million in October 2020, and by early February 2021 had initial plans for the hub.
Construction began in May 2022, with the hub originally anticipated to open in fall 2023, but that was delayed due to unexpected issues.
The total renovation cost to the town was almost $10.3 million, offset by about $5.3 million from the federal government.
Previously, the food bank and WOW Living operated out of 123 Moore St. and 31 Frederick St., which the town donated in 2021 to LOFT Community Services, who broke ground in September on affordable seniors housing.
New high school and expansion
If all goes well, construction could begin on Bradford’s second public high school as early as 2026.
On Oct. 15, council endorsed a request for a ministerial zoning order (MZO) from two land owners — GB (Bradford) Inc. and CLE 72330 Ltd. — who are each willing to donate four hectares (10 acres) for an 8.1-hectare (20-acre) high-school campus across two neighbouring properties at 2901 Line 6 and 2944 Line 5.
Those donations are contingent on the MZO being approved by provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra, and plans would also see the school surrounded by residential development.
The concept was a collaboration between town staff, council, the landowners and the Simcoe County District School Board, and the MZO was requested as the two properties — totalling 81 hectares (200 acres) — are zoned agricultural and are outside of the town’s settlement area boundary.
An MZO can be issued by the minister to override local planning and consultation requirements as a way to expedite rezoning an area of land and prevent the ability to appeal the rezoning.
If approved, the zoning is set to change to a mix of institutional and residential to allow a range of low, medium and high-density housing, neighbourhood commercial, parks, recreation and other institutional uses.
However, the developer is still expected to follow the town’s application process for building a subdivision including the typical studies, reviews and public consultation.
This new opportunity follows council’s ongoing effort pushing for a new high school in town, including passing a motion on June 18 identifying the “critical priority,” following another motion passed on Dec. 5, 2023, directing town staff to continue working with school boards to find suitable sites.
Based on updated information from the school board, town chief administrative officer Geoff McKnight noted in an October report that Bradford District High School currently has 250 students, more than its official capacity of 1,113, and an additional 650 students are expected by 2033.
Once built, the new public high school is expected to accommodate 1,134 students.
Meanwhile, York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney announced $6.8 million in funding for an expansion of Holy Trinity Catholic High School on May 17, to accommodate another 276 students to the school’s current population of 1,044, via a two-storey addition connected on the east side of the existing building.
Arson suspected in Bond Head
South Simcoe police are searching for those responsible in suspected cases of arson in Bond Head.
Emergency crews have responded to eight residential fires in a new development on Rowe Street, north of County Road 88 and west of County Road 27, in the village on the west end of Bradford this year, including three in October alone. Earlier investigation determined the previous fires were deliberately set.
On Oct. 13, officers and Bradford Fire and Emergency Services personnel responded to a report of residential structure fires at 173 and 177 Rowe Street, where they found and extinguished active fires.
The units were unoccupied and there were no reported injuries. Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal was called to investigate.
On Oct. 5, officers and firefighters responded to another fire on the street, which caused extensive damage, before it was extinguished. There were no known injuries.
The fire marshal was also called to investigate this incident.
Two other unoccupied properties each caught fire twice this year, on Feb. 5 and June 12. In both instances no injuries were reported.
A garage fire also broke out on June 9 on Cassells Drive in a nearby but separate neighbourhood off Line 8.
The occupants were able to escape thanks to working smoke alarms, and while the cause of the fire is unknown, fire and emergency services explained it caused significant damage as it had extended into the main structure.
Fire guts vape shop
South Simcoe police, Bradford firefighters and County of Simcoe paramedics responded to a blaze at 136 Holland St. E. in Bradford on May 10 around 3 a.m., where a new vape shop, North Vapes, was reportedly engulfed in flames.
Afterwards BradfordToday attempted to contact co-owner Mustafa Sarwary about the fire but he was not available for comment.
That incident is considered suspicious with both the fire marshal and police investigating.
Initially, few details were released, but during an update to the Bradford West Gwillimbury/Innisfil Police Services Board May 29, Deputy Chief Sheryl Sutton said a vehicle was seen leaving the area and heading toward Newmarket immediately after the fire broke out.
An officer also located a crowbar outside the store entrance and “smelled a strong odour of gasoline” coming from inside North Vapes.
While the investigation continued, police retrieved surveillance video showing at least two people inside the business who they were trying to identify.
When asked by BradfordToday following the meeting, Chief John Van Dyke said he could not comment on whether the owners were currently considered suspects.
Other units in the plaza suffered smoke damage — with heavier amounts found in Lil’ Schnitzel and Bangkok Saigon Noodle — and were closed for several days, before being cleared to reopen by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. However, the building itself is considered to be structurally sound.
North Vapes held its grand opening on April 20, and offered different brands of vaporizers and nicotine-based oils including open pods, closed pods and disposables, plus vaping accessories.
— With files from Chris Simon and Paul Novosad
