City staff ask for public input on streetcar restoration during open house

Streetcar number 351 once carried passengers on Windsor's streets. It now sits at RM Auto Restorations in Chatham-Kent awaiting a new life.

Thestreetcar was donated to the citylast year and in return the city issued a tax receipt for$100,000. Now the parks department wants to hear ideas from the public about the best uses for the old trolly.

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City staff held an open house at the Chimczuk Museum Wednesday night to hear input from the public.

"We're going to take forward all the suggestions, see what's really possible in terms of space and parametersand we'll be taking a report forward to council based on community input and asking council for final direction," said Cathy Masterson, manager of cultural affairs.

The streetcar was built in Trenton, N.J. in 1919 and ran for a while on Staten Island, N.Y. before it was purchased by the city in 1926.

The city has budgeted about $750,000 for the restoration.

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One of the possible uses floated at a council meeting was a concession stand, but streetcar historian Bernie Drouillard thinks it should be restored to its original glory and set up under a canopy outside the art gallery building.

"With the amount of money being put into it and the quality of work being put into itit should go as a museum piece," said Drouillard, who attended the open house.

"Restore it and keep it out of the elements," was the suggestion from streetcar enthusiast JulienWolfe. "I think it's a wonderful idea to preserve it."

Anyone who was unable to attend the open house can provide feedback onlineuntil the end of February.