Enough is Enough at Museum Square in Downtown Woodstock

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Wednesday, 20 October 2021 11:52

The Woodstock Museum Advisory Committee has written a letter to Woodstock City Council demanding action at Museum Square in Downtown Woodstock.

WOODSTOCK - The Woodstock Museum Advisory Committee is fed up with the current state of Museum Square.

They have written a letter to Woodstock City Council demanding action, before the loss of property or life happens in the downtown hub. Museum Square has become a place for people to bath, do drugs and loiter in the Friendly City. It has gotten to the point where residents have stopped going to the Museum. Recently a couple of fires were intentionally set off in the area. One of fires was set near a gas line, which could have destroyed the building.

Museum staff have had to clean up drugs from the yard and patrons have complained about fearing for their safety when leaving the building. Chairperson for the committee Elaine Becker discusses more of the issues facing downtown in an interview with Heart FM. You can listen to that interview below:

You can read the letter addressed to Woodstock City council members in it's entirety below:

We the members of the Woodstock Museum Advisory Committee demand some action be taken before the loss of property or life happens in the Museum Square area. We give of our time willingly to assist in the operation of the Museum because of our passion for the preservation of historical sites and historical information for the benefit of this and future generations.

The Museum is a National Historic Site and a well-known city symbol and focal point in the downtown. It is a tourist attraction and could be a wonderful gathering place combined with the Art Gallery and local businesses, but the Museum Square area has become shameful. The situation with vagrancy and drugs has taken over the downtown core.

Staff and visitors to the Museum often feel unsafe as they enter or leave the building. How can we encourage more programs in our building with this as a reality? The need for Museum staff to clean up drug paraphernalia and trash left by the vagrants is unacceptable.

More recently the danger of fires, intentionally set for the purpose of causing serious damage is even more disturbing. Despite having local police, it has become necessary to employ independent security providers to protect our property. This is unacceptable.

Are there no bylaws to remove vagrant people from the Museum Square? To call this a homelessness situation is to ignore the drug problem at the heart of the matter. To ignore the arson attempts on our property with no arrests being made is disgraceful. To allow the continual harassment of small business establishments and the free and safe entry of people to tourist sites in the downtown core is unacceptable.

Perhaps the best we could hope for, at this point, is better security in the downtown and enforcement of whatever bylaws exist, taking appropriate legal action against offenders. Additionally, there needs to be a much stronger presence of mental health and addictions professionals who are trained to deal with the issues currently being dealt with on the front lines by staff at the Museum. We fear a tragic event if this lack of care continues.

That alone will not be enough. You as a Council must set some immediate and long-range goals for dealing with this situation or the loss of life and property will also be on your hands.

Respectfully submitted by:

Elaine Becker

Murray Coulter

Sarah McKay

Coenraad van Haastert

Jim Harrison

Laura Centore