The 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust has delivered its long-awaited business plan for operating the west Mountain heritage site to city officials.
Brian Buckle, chairman of the trust group’s board of directors, said they handed the plan for Auchmar Estate to city staff last Friday and are slated to make a presentation to the general issues committee this week.
Buckle called the meeting “fairly positive.”
The trust is hoping to get a 99-year lease for $1 to maintain and operate the city-owned 3.2-hectare (eight-acre) site.
The trust is looking at a five-phase, $15-million restoration plan that is expected to take four to five years to complete.
Phase 1 would include opening Clairmont Park to the public and turning the Coach House into a tea room and place to offer programs and support to soldiers and first responders who are battling post-traumatic stress disorder.
In subsequent phases, the Auchmar mansion would be turned into a museum and events centre, the former nuns residence would be torn down and replaced by a two-storey Gibson Inn boutique hotel and a regimental chapel, followed by the addition of the Friends of Auchmar Centre and a 13th Battalion tent.
While the 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust is named in honour of the unit that was formed by Auchmar founder Isaac Buchanan in 1862, and later became the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, Buckle said the group is a separate charitable organization and is not part of the Canadian military.
The 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust has delivered its long-awaited business plan for operating the west Mountain heritage site to city officials.
Brian Buckle, chairman of the trust group’s board of directors, said they handed the plan for Auchmar Estate to city staff last Friday and are slated to make a presentation to the general issues committee this week.
Buckle called the meeting “fairly positive.”
The trust is hoping to get a 99-year lease for $1 to maintain and operate the city-owned 3.2-hectare (eight-acre) site.
The trust is looking at a five-phase, $15-million restoration plan that is expected to take four to five years to complete.
Phase 1 would include opening Clairmont Park to the public and turning the Coach House into a tea room and place to offer programs and support to soldiers and first responders who are battling post-traumatic stress disorder.
In subsequent phases, the Auchmar mansion would be turned into a museum and events centre, the former nuns residence would be torn down and replaced by a two-storey Gibson Inn boutique hotel and a regimental chapel, followed by the addition of the Friends of Auchmar Centre and a 13th Battalion tent.
While the 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust is named in honour of the unit that was formed by Auchmar founder Isaac Buchanan in 1862, and later became the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, Buckle said the group is a separate charitable organization and is not part of the Canadian military.
The 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust has delivered its long-awaited business plan for operating the west Mountain heritage site to city officials.
Brian Buckle, chairman of the trust group’s board of directors, said they handed the plan for Auchmar Estate to city staff last Friday and are slated to make a presentation to the general issues committee this week.
Buckle called the meeting “fairly positive.”
The trust is hoping to get a 99-year lease for $1 to maintain and operate the city-owned 3.2-hectare (eight-acre) site.
The trust is looking at a five-phase, $15-million restoration plan that is expected to take four to five years to complete.
Phase 1 would include opening Clairmont Park to the public and turning the Coach House into a tea room and place to offer programs and support to soldiers and first responders who are battling post-traumatic stress disorder.
In subsequent phases, the Auchmar mansion would be turned into a museum and events centre, the former nuns residence would be torn down and replaced by a two-storey Gibson Inn boutique hotel and a regimental chapel, followed by the addition of the Friends of Auchmar Centre and a 13th Battalion tent.
While the 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust is named in honour of the unit that was formed by Auchmar founder Isaac Buchanan in 1862, and later became the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, Buckle said the group is a separate charitable organization and is not part of the Canadian military.