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This article first appeared in the September 20, 2023 issue of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News. Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.

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Booming region pushes back

A decade full of change and challenge

By Matt Harrison

As the Low Down counts down the weeks to our big 50th anniversary in October we have been publishing "flashback" pieces by decade. This week, we look back at the 2010s.

The "discovery" of the Hills in the prior decades led to major transformation throughout the new millennia, which, naturally, saw opposing groups clash. Chelsea and Wakefield both gained substantial new infrastructure in the form of community centres; thanks to water treatment and the vision of one woman in particular, the stage was set for Old Chelsea's eventual transformation. The Hwy 5 extension - a four-lane highway from Farm Point to Wakefield to replace the outdated and dangerous Hwy 105 - was completed, which brought inevitable change to the northern part of Chelsea, while nearly erasing Wakefield's name and sparking protests with those fighting to preserve what attracted people to the Hills in the first place. Just as the new highway was built, the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam, a symbol of the past, began its long, slow death, which dominated headlines throughout the decade, sending readers on a seesaw of highs and lows as efforts to save the train burst forth and then dissipated like so much steam.

The decade was also an era of Low Down personalities that we can't seem to get rid of ! or want to forget: Current editor Trevor Greenway got his start at the paper in 2008, but left in 2013 and then rejoined the paper in 2021; as did this writer, who filled in for Greenway during a paternity leave, left, then rejoined as the copy editor; Tom Werbo, Christina Stobert and Sheena Turcotte are just some of the names that carved out their own columns for some years; and former editor Melanie Scott, who ably steered the paper for seven years, tragically died in 2023.

The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train's death came with a bang followed by a decades-long whimper. A portion of the track in Chelsea was washed out after a storm in June 2011. Costs to repair the track and stabilize the soil were initially estimated around $7 million - that number ballooned to over $50 million - although the actual study to back that number mysteriously disappeared. A series of efforts to get the train back up and running in various forms occurred throughout the decade, some including the help of federal and provincial governments. Accompanying these various efforts was a degree of optimism: "It's on its way to being saved," declared John Trent, co-president of the then-Friends of the Steam Train in November 2011. Meanwhile, headlines ran in this newspaper such as, "Wakefield steam train rescued" - only for the proverbial "track" to be pulled out from under the determined group trying to save it, as their efforts, one by one, fell apart. By the end of the decade many faced the final stage of grief - acceptance. And with that came new proposals to rip up the rails in Chelsea and turn the line into a walking/cycling trail, which set off a whole series of "rails to trail" or R2T controversies, which would carry over into the following decade.

A 10-year dream was finally realized in November 2011 when the doors to the brand new Centre Wakefield La Pèche cooperative opened, giving the community a new library, theatre space, gym and various other recreational spaces, both inside and out.

Erase history? Not if locals have a say in it. A proposal in October 2011 for Canada Post to scrub such historic names as Alcove, Edelweiss, Wakefield, Farrellton, etc. and replace them with La Pèche was decried by residents who went "postal" on the scheme, dubbed "La Pèchification". As part of the Hwy 5 expansion, Wakefield's name was nearly erased from the highway exit sign, to be replaced by La Pèche. In the end it was changed to Chemin de la Vallèe-de-Wakefield. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

The Hwy 5 extension got the official green light in 2012 and was opened in 2014. The cost? Financially it was around $61 million, but there were other "costs": Construction affected some of Wakefield's water supply and quality. An old white pine tree - estimated by some (though not all) to be as old as 300 years - would be cut down, but not before protestors erected tents, climbed and chained themselves to trees, blocked vehicles, and faced fines up to $50,000. "It's going to take whatever they can to take me down," said one volunteer sitting in the tree's branches. Nine were arrested.

Low Down reporters Trevor Greenway and Lucy Scholey got Hammered in the Hills - they investigated the Hills' drinking problem, noting that a DUI arrest was made every two days and that at the time the Gatineau Hills had the highest proportion of drinkers in the province. For their reporting, they won a Canadian Community Newspaper Award in 2013.

After much wrangling in the previous decade, the Meredith Centre in Chelsea opened in September 2012 - its launch, disappointingly, would be tarnished almost immediately by the collapse of the back end of the arena roof and wall. Though eventually fixed, the collapse introduced mold issues that plagued the centre for some time.

And here's one for the "we're still waiting for it" category. A "unique" 52-unit condo development planned for the former Hamilton Motors lot in Wakefield in 2012 created a fair amount of public backlash due mainly to the proposed look of the buildings, which some argued would change the heritage nature of the village. Giant Lego-like concrete blocks (they're still there!) were installed after a very annoyed Devcore Developer Jean-Pierre Poulin ordered them to be installed in a way that prevented anyone from using the space for parking until development could begin, which never happened.

Wakefield swimming rocks up for sale? When it was announced in spring of 2012 that the 1.5 acres of property, which included the paradiscal bathing spot, was up for sale, it shocked many. Those who had swum near the covered bridge for years - considered a rite of passage by many - assumed it was owned by the municipality. La Pèche eventually did take it over (and banned swimming altogether a couple of years ago).

Fairbairn finished! After seven years, the heritage centre in Wakefield was completed, which will help to tell the historical story of the people in the area in 2012 - the same year that Chelsea's 120-year-old St. Stephen's Church Rectory became the new home of The Chelsea Arts, Culture and Heritage Co-operative.

A major force behind a miniboom in Old Chelsea village during the 2010s (and continuing into the 2020s) - that's how Manuela Teixeira was described, after she (take a big breath): bought and renovated an old heritage building into the Chelsea Pub; bought and renovated Galerie Old Chelsea and Biscotti & cie - the latter into a European cafe; as president, oversaw the move of the Chelsea Fine Arts, Heritage and Culture Co-operative move into La Fab. And Teixeira was just getting started...

La Pèche's 'I'm-going-to-run-this-municipality-like-a-business' Mayor Robert Bussière not only successfully pushed to bring a polystyrene factory to the region, StyroRail, but tried to expropriate the green pastures and trees of Eco-Echo lands across the street for an expanded industrial park. Bussière did not win that one, but now it's a tale of two futures, as the protected lands, now an environmental campus, stare across at a styrofoam factory.

That chopping block looks awfully familiar - that's because, once again, St. Mike's high school in Low was threatened with closure in 2012 due to shrinking enrollment and a $2.5 million financial cutback by the province to the board - this despite the school's 90 per cent graduation rate at the time. It was saved - again - in 2013; what followed were plans to expand the school with a $4 million gym in 2017.

"Wakefield's worst kept secret" was a site chosen for a palliative care home across from Wakefield Hospital, which circulated as rumours before the six-bed facility, La Maison des Collines, was made official in February 2013. La Maison des Collines is a six-bed facility that provides end-of-life care to terminal patients.

Accompanying the Hwy 5 extension came growing pains for Farm Point. Development proposals included: a vineyard, IGA expansion, quarry expansion, seniors housing complex, pharmacy, and more, which prompted Chelsea to create a special planning program (PPU) to revise the area's zoning bylaws and construction limits. The PPU and "urban perimeter" designation saw pushback from locals who decried the move, saying development - including proposals for 200 units - would overwhelm the rural village. The latter was eventually scrapped, but many of those plans did come to fruition, with more possibly coming.

Party-poopers. After the Canada Day raft was demolished by police in 2012, organizers wanted to go legit - no more slide, no double-decker diving board, no underage drinking, etc. Instead, they crafted a seaworthy vessel in time for Canada Day 2013. The spirit of the raft fizzled out, and the raft hasn't patriotically floated by in years.

While there was other news that week, it was the passing of lifelong newsman and founder of the Low Down, Art Mantell, on July 28, 2013, that dominated the entire front page of the newspaper. He and his wife, Kitty, started the paper in 1973 at a time when, according to Mantell, it "made no sense," given that there were no real businesses in the area, residents were hidden away in forests and his only mode of communication was Bell's shared party line.

Arrr, d'er be a new pirate 'n town - those who tuned into 99.9 FM were able to hear music, talk shows and interviews on Wakefield's first pirate (an apt symbol for the village according to one resident) radio station J0X 3G0 Radio for a weekend in August 2013 as part of Wakefest.

All aboard - the bus, not the train. After years of studies, a $850,000 transportation plan rolled into the Hills in the summer of '15 in the form of Transcollines.

Wakefield lost a champion with the passing of Louis Romprè, councilor, father, musician, candlemaker, and advocate for the village, on Aug. 28, 2016. Chelsea opened the taps to a water treatment plant in 2016, which also opened the taps to new developments that poured out in the subsequent years, radically transforming former farm fields into houses and commercial spaces.

A plan for a contiguous path along Wakefield's waterfront got underway in 2017; plans included a boardwalk and floating docks. The new boardwalk was unveiled a year later. Eat your heart out, Atlantic City.

The arrest and conviction of Vincent Nadon, a former Chelsea doctor who sexually assaulted and secretly recorded dozens of his patients over a 28-year career, gobsmacked the region. Eventually Nadon was sentenced in 2018 to eight years in prison.

In 2019 Kazabazua celebrated the $3.7 million planned, twostorey, 16-unity, affordable and bilingual senior's housing project, the Gatineau Valley Retirement Village, allowing long-time residents to stay in the area.

"Bussière out, total unknown in" - that was the headline after long-time La Pèche mayor, Robert Bussière, was defeated in the 2017 municipal elections, and a shocked Guillaume Lamoureux suddenly found himself to be mayor. "I was barely known. Everyone kept saying, 'Who are you? Where did you come from?'" said Lamoureux after being elected. Bussière was out, but not gone. It was "Back for the CAQ" after he went on to wrest the 56-year reign of the region from the Liberals in the 2018 provincial election to become the area's MP for Coalition Avenir Quèbec (CAQ).