The Liberty Entertainment Group, which operates prominent Toronto event venues like Casa Loma, the Liberty Grand, and the new Rogers Stadium, wants to turn the former North Marysburgh Centennial Central School into an assembly hall and culinary school with ten guest rooms. 

The former school sits on 7 acres just south of Lake on the Mountain on County Road 7. It has been derelict for over twenty years. While the property is designated Shoreland under the County’s Official Plan, most of the site is currently zoned Institutional, and EP along the escarpment. The school building sits 160 metres from the cliff, and gives way to spectacular views over the reach.

Nick Di Donato, President and CEO of the Liberty Group, plans to invest $3 million in interior and exterior renovations to create a culinary school that will serve as a training base for some of Liberty Entertainment Group’s 2,000 employees. A 7000-square foot (600 sm) assembly hall with raised stage will be available for events. The 10 guest rooms are for those renting the hall or, in the off season, those attending the cooking school. 

Rezoning the property to site-specific Tourist-Commercial allows a for-profit enterprise. Shawn Legere, Senior Planner at RFA Planning Consultants, presented the plans to the Committee of the Whole at a Statutory Public Meeting last week. He stressed that “assembly” is already allowed at the property, and that the rezoning is technical, to allow the owner to operate a business.

A 7000-square-foot 
assembly hall with raised stage will be available for events.
The 10 guest rooms are for those renting the hall or, in the off 
season, those 
attending the cooking school.

Water Scarce

The vision for the property is hindered by the fact that there is no functioning water supply on site. The former school was supplied by an off-site shore well at Lake on the Mountain. But a flow test conducted by Greer Galloway group in February found the well had a slow recovery rate of 28 percent. 

“We don’t want to see a steady stream of water trucks,” said Councillor Janice Maynard. 

Mr. Legere noted he had just received peer reviewed comments on the study, which will inform the next steps. “The engineers have their marching orders. They understand what the concern is,” he said. 

Near neighbours oppose the plans, worried that the surrounding rural and residential neighbourhood will experience increased noise, light, and traffic. Nine registered complaints at the statutory meeting.

The key concern, however, was water supply.

Angus Ross, who lives opposite the property, said he had “concerns over the seasonal variation which have not been addressed.” He noted that the well testing was done in February, a time when the water table is high from winter precipitation. He requested that additional testing be carried out before the end of September to understand water supply in the dry season. 

Another neighbour, Harold Bratten, noted that his well supply was reduced by half when Greer Galloway Group conducted its testing. 

Amy Bodman of the PEC Field Naturalists was pleased to learn that the owner agreed to protect the roosting and nesting habitat for chimney swifts, a species at risk, inside the building’s chimneys. 

She also noted “Tourist Commercial zoning is not recommended in our Official Plan for Natural Core Areas, areas where our biodiversity is identified as most important to protect.” Lake on the Mountain is within a Natural Core Area.

The County recently extended an Interim Control Bylaw prohibiting development of Shorelands while a review is underway to distinguish between Natural Core areas and those slated for development. 

But the application seeks exemption from the Interim Control Bylaw, noting that the land is already developed and that planning staff did not request an Environmental Impact Study during pre-consultation. 

Staff will make a recommendation before the application comes to Planning for a decision.