Bandshell future on hold as city eyes Windsor Stadium land.

An undated photo of Windsor Stadium. ( photo from Google Maps )

City council is holding off on deciding the future of the Jackson Park bandshell in Jackson Park as it explores an opportunity to buy the nearby Windsor Stadium property.

During Monday’s council meeting, a debate around whether a request for proposals should be issued to study the feasibility of the future of the bandshell was unexpectedly halted when Mayor Drew Dilkens called council in-camera to share some information that could impact their decision.

When the council returned, the debate over the future of the bandshell was deferred to the next meeting of the council.

Following the meeting, Dilkens told the media that the city had received information late last week that the Greater Essex County District School Board, through the Ontario government, had listed the stadium land for sale for the purpose of housing development.

The stadium lands back on Jackson Park in the area of the bandshell.

Dilkens says the prospect of housing development on the land next to the bandshell would impact any decision made by council.

He says the fair market value for the land at 2365 McDougall St. is just under $3 million, and it’s something council needs to discuss, as any potential purchase was not budgeted for.

Dilkens says he’s been saying since 2019 that he’d like the city to purchase Windsor Stadium.

“It makes a lot of sense to incorporate it into the Jackson Park piece that we already own. At the end of the day, though, if it’s only for housing purposes, we need to figure out if it’s something we need to do,” he said. “If it’s a function of Housing Solutions Made for Windsor, are we best to take that property to work through the process or let it go to the private sector and let them do what they’re going to do?”

According to Dilkens, council knows it’s going to be very expensive to restore that bandshell and members know there would be fair market purchase of the property.

“Council needs to figure out whether they have the money, whether they want to take that property and put it in the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor portfolio, and then consider if we’re successful on those fronts, how does that impact the work you may or may not do on future bandshell restoration?” he says.

The administration report before the council recommended that a request for proposals to conduct a feasibility study be cancelled due to the cost being above the $120,000 budget set for the study.

The report warned there is a significant financial risk associated with conducting the feasibility study and that if it moves forward, there may be findings that determine additional testing might be required, such as soil or environmental, at additional costs.

Administration instead recommended council consider a symbolic monument/memorial to the site, such as an Emancipation Celebrations Monument within Jackson Park.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the original bandshell hosted Emancipation Day celebrations that drew crowds for speeches from civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was destroyed in a fire and replaced by the existing bandshell, which fell into disrepair over the years.

- Rusty Thomson/AM800 News