Czech centre faces permit hurdle
Czech centre faces permit hurdle
Second appeal tonight for those miffed at decision to grant it Parks Canada site
ANN CARROLL
The Gazette
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
The promoter of a controversial hotel and Czech cultural centre tackles one hurdle tonight when the project permit comes up for second approval at the Southwest borough council meeting.
But George Syrovatka's real challenge will be hanging on to the Parks Canada land he wants to develop on the Lachine Canal.
Federal justice officials have given Syrovatka and his organization, Czech Cultural Centre Inc., until the end of August to decontaminate the site and respect other lease conditions.
To meet the government deadline, Syrovatka says he has hired an environmental firm to clean up the soil by mid-August.
Parks Canada is staying out of the dispute until the deadline passes, saying it is waiting for word from the Justice Department.
In 2002, Syrovatka negotiated a 99-year lease with Parks Canada on behalf of the Czech Cultural Centre Inc. for 15,000 square feet of industrial land at the corner of Seminaire and Olier Sts.
For $1 and the promise to decontaminate the land within two years - at an estimated cost of at least $300,000 - the group won the right to build a $1-million centre with rooms for meetings, exhibitions and overnight guests. The building was to revert to Parks Canada at the end of the lease.
But Syrovatka ran afoul of federal authorities this year after postponing the soil cleanup, and expanding the building plans without prior approval.
Business and community groups have questioned how a little-known Czech organization could win a lease on choice canal-side property, without a public bidding process.
Cornell Trading Ltd., an international manufacturing, wholesale and retail business (selling in Montreal in La Cache boutiques), also had its eye on the site. Its Canadian headquarters and distribution warehouse sits next to the Parks Canada property.
When Cornell asked about acquiring the federal land as part of a major residential-commercial redevelopment project, it discovered the site already had been promised to the Czech group.
"People are getting land from the Canadian government in a Canadian park for nothing," said an outraged John Kaine, a Cornell consultant. "And there's no process to ensure the people getting the land are legitimate and are building something that serves the community they purport to serve."
Cornell said it has been the victim of "questionable private arrangements" in Parks Canada's handling of the lease.
Cleary conceded the federal government generally encourages bidding on its properties.
But Parks Canada, which was part of the Canadian Heritage Department in 2002, made an exception at the Lachine Canal site to further the interest of cultural exchanges, she said.
acarroll@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005
Second appeal tonight for those miffed at decision to grant it Parks Canada site
ANN CARROLL
The Gazette
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
The promoter of a controversial hotel and Czech cultural centre tackles one hurdle tonight when the project permit comes up for second approval at the Southwest borough council meeting.
But George Syrovatka's real challenge will be hanging on to the Parks Canada land he wants to develop on the Lachine Canal.
Federal justice officials have given Syrovatka and his organization, Czech Cultural Centre Inc., until the end of August to decontaminate the site and respect other lease conditions.
To meet the government deadline, Syrovatka says he has hired an environmental firm to clean up the soil by mid-August.
Parks Canada is staying out of the dispute until the deadline passes, saying it is waiting for word from the Justice Department.
In 2002, Syrovatka negotiated a 99-year lease with Parks Canada on behalf of the Czech Cultural Centre Inc. for 15,000 square feet of industrial land at the corner of Seminaire and Olier Sts.
For $1 and the promise to decontaminate the land within two years - at an estimated cost of at least $300,000 - the group won the right to build a $1-million centre with rooms for meetings, exhibitions and overnight guests. The building was to revert to Parks Canada at the end of the lease.
But Syrovatka ran afoul of federal authorities this year after postponing the soil cleanup, and expanding the building plans without prior approval.
Business and community groups have questioned how a little-known Czech organization could win a lease on choice canal-side property, without a public bidding process.
Cornell Trading Ltd., an international manufacturing, wholesale and retail business (selling in Montreal in La Cache boutiques), also had its eye on the site. Its Canadian headquarters and distribution warehouse sits next to the Parks Canada property.
When Cornell asked about acquiring the federal land as part of a major residential-commercial redevelopment project, it discovered the site already had been promised to the Czech group.
"People are getting land from the Canadian government in a Canadian park for nothing," said an outraged John Kaine, a Cornell consultant. "And there's no process to ensure the people getting the land are legitimate and are building something that serves the community they purport to serve."
Cornell said it has been the victim of "questionable private arrangements" in Parks Canada's handling of the lease.
Cleary conceded the federal government generally encourages bidding on its properties.
But Parks Canada, which was part of the Canadian Heritage Department in 2002, made an exception at the Lachine Canal site to further the interest of cultural exchanges, she said.
acarroll@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005
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