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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-09-11, Page 2T� - ` ........y.-� 2 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, September 11,1013 Archie Gibbs fought and won 1 CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 1 Gibbs launched his legal action In the early 1980s, after the death of an uncle. The court victory, after a 76 -day trial, was also a huge coup for Gibbs' lawyer; Julius Melnitzer, then a rising star in Lon- don's legal community. 'three years later Melnitzer engineered one of biggest bank frauds in Canadian history and was ulti- mately convicted and disbarred. But Gibbs fared much better than his lawyer. Along with title to the beach, he received $1.2 million for lost revenue. An appeal of the court ruling required Gibbs to give the public access to the beach, but he made money collecting parking fees and he personally cleaned up the beach every night. In 1998 he made a deal with the prov- ince and the village of Grand Bend to sell the 1.78 -hectare property. The village paid $149,00 as its share of the settlement, but the money paid by the province to Gibbs has never been released. Recently Gibbs has filed a second land claim- this time at Grand Bend's harbour. Ile had attended several 1 aunbton Shores meetings with his lawyer Philip Walden and daughter Michelle. Gibbs often told the Lakeshore Advance this fight was not for him but for his daughter and grand- daughter. I le said when he was gone, his daughter would continue his fight for family land. '1'he issue at hand today is the ownership, operation and manage- ment of the Grand Bend harbour. Gibbs met with council in 2011 to open discus- sions concerning this matter. Before the cut was created at the hairpin turn and before the harbour was constructed In 1897- the land, (as is seen on the 1853 survey), on the south side where the art galleries and restaurant are, was origi- nally the Stephen Drain.'lhe deed to the lands that include where the pier is and the launch ramp were titled to the Gibbs family. LOOKING BACK The land battles with Gibbs fancily began in the late 1970s. 'there was a trip to the council of the day in 1979 and then the court battles began in 1988, In the early 1980s, M. A. (Archie) Gibbs and Gibbs Company sued the Province of Ontario and the Village of Grand Bend, claiming Gibbs owned the beach south of Main Street at Grand Bend and also claiming damages. The Province and the WF (lAN HFLI 121 519.435.1470sit www.wlldthinq�wildlif�ooMrol,00m • Old river scene Village counter -sued, asserting that the Crown owned the beach or, alternatively, that the public had the right (called in law a pre- scriptive right) to continue using the beach for recreational pur- poses, as it had since the 1870s. For most of this century, the Ministry of Natural Resources and its predecessor, the Department of lands and Forests, contended that the beach south of Main Street at Grand Bend was owned by the Crown, because of its inter- pretation of the original Crown grant.. After a 76 -day trial in the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1989, Mr. Justice W. 1). (,:hilcott ruled that: Gibbs owned the beach and From Me Moo of Lynda H Hman-Rapley the Crown had failed to establish a prescriptive right of any kind for the public to use the beach. Gibbs was awarded damages and costs for the "loss of revenue. Grand Bend got the beach back in 1997. Gibbs' wife, Jean, died in 2000. I le's survived by his daughter and son-in-law, a granddaughter and several brothers and sisters. OFFICE HOURS The New Office 1- {ours for The Lakeshore Advance will he as follows Mondays - 8am - 4pm Tuesdays - CLOSED Wednesdays - 9am - 4pm Thursdays - 9 am - 4pm Fridays - 8am - 4pm Grid Beal 58 Ontario St. N., Grand Bend tteshore Advaoce PH: 519-238-5383 EMAIL: 1akcshorc .advancc(i sunmedia.ca • • f