September 12, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. After years of struggle. After battling a civic administration that really didn’t want the thing saved and working around a city council that couldn’t come up with a solution even though they had federal funding to pay for a move – the Friends of Freeman station watched the structure move a couple of hundred yards from beside the fire station on plains Road to a spot in a field where they can begin the renovation and restoration work.
It was a very satisfying day for a small bunch of people.
Leaving a place that was not very nice – station begins one of the shortest trips it has ever made.
The station is eased into a large excavation. She wasn’t being buried – just put into a location where a foundation can be put beneath the structure.
Construction equipment gets out of the excavation and the crews prepare the ground for the station to be eased down the slope.
The station is eased into a space where its foundation will be built.
All settled in. The tractor will unhitch and drive away. Those huge yellow beams will get pulled out once the station is lowered onto a set of cribs that will hold it in place while the foundation is built.
These are what are known as “Happy Campers” or Friends of Freeman Station. They are, from the left:John Mellow (Chair, Restoration & Relocation) , Alan Harrington (Treasurer), Bev Jacobs (Board Member) Brian Aasgaard (Vice President), Jacquie Gardner (Publicity), Reg Cooke (Secretary), and James Smith. President.
Now, as they put it, the real work can begin. There is some settling of the building to be done but that is just a detail.
It is in place, temporarily if the Friends of Freeman have their way, and over the next three to five years the work will get done.
During the lengthy debate over how the city wants to see the Beachway Park develop, city staff provided some pictures and layout on how the place would look when it is more like a park than it is now – there wasn’t a hint of a place for the Freeman Station. Unfortunate. That will get changed.
