Playground . . . Poli By MIKE JOHNSTON Free Press Staff Patrons of the new teenage club, the Playground will have to wait a little longer to find out when it will open - and if in fact it even will open. Last week, the day before the club was to officially open, the town informed the owner, Bob Longmuir, that his application for a public hall licence has been put on hold until council could meet with him. The licence had been approved by the Town of Whitby's Planning, Public Works and Fire departments and the Region of . Durham Department of Health ce stalidance Services. However, the Durham Regional Police Force have let the town know that they have concerns about the Playground. In a letter to Deputy Clerk Mike Gazo, Detec- tive Mayno Van Dyke of the Durham Regional Police Force outlined a number of those con- cerns. Concerns include the size of the washrooms ... "the mens for example has one stool toilet and one urinal. Since as many as 350 people will be using the facility at once this may result in crowding in the'waiting area beside the washroom," reads the letter. .Vol. 16, No.18 w The police are con- cernèd that since the washroom facilities are so small, the patrons at the club may go out the back doors and urinate outside. Another large concern the police have is with the lack of air- conditioning. The police have assumed that in the summer months the back doors will be open. "Once these doors are opened, patrons will wander outside and op- portunities for use and exchange of drugs or alcohol will . increase dramatically," the let- ter states. The police believe the doors will be opened unless some type of alarm system is in- stalled. Also, with the doors open, the noise level of the music will interfer with.the peace and quiet of neighboring businesses and resi- dents. Parking is also a problem, according to the police. The police are concerned that because the Playground has no parking of it's own, the patrons will use the private parking lots adjacent to the rear of the Playground. Another problem is the location of the Playground. "The location of this facility presents a problem for sidewalk and street ob- Wednesday, May 7, 1986 hall struction," reads the letter""The police said that since a large num- ber of the patrons atten- ding the Playground will be under 16, they will be dropped off by cars in front of the Playground. This will cause. traffic and sidewalk problems, said the police. The major concern of the police department is the history of problems relating to teenage nightclubs. "This type of enter- tainment seems to be a magnet for the drug culture in our com- munity. It also becomes a fact that 'this is where to find drugs' and unfor- SEE PG. 34 36 Pages Museum opening The Whitby Museum will be opening for another season Saturday afternoon and the new curator, Dr. Deseree Rowley, has arranged an exhibition of dolls dressed in period costume beginning in the 1820's and coritinuing through 1960. Among the first dolls to be uncrated by Dr. Rowley last week was this 18W lady in afternoon dress (far left), an 1890 boy dressed up in his Sunday best, an 1850 lady in wedding dress and, in the background, this 1960 mod reminiscent of Nancy Sinatra. The museum will be open Satur- day, Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1 until 5 p.m. Rail crossing aired agam This year's Whitby Kiwanis Club bike-a-thon for cancer appears to have been a big success despite the unseasonably cold temperatures that dogged the more than 100 riders who showed up Saturday to participate in the 20 kilometer ride. By month end when al the plédges have been turned in, organizers hope to have raised as much as $10,000 for the Cancer Society. Seen here are Peers David- son who raised a remarkable $1,200 worth of pledges, Veronica Ward who collected $30, Alex Zong, manager of Miracle Mart which donated all the food devoured by the hungry riders after the ride, Annelieke Hogenbirk who raised $35 worth of pledges, Kiwanis president Ken Billington, Cancer Society special events chairman Marion Irwin, ride chairman John May, Marion Clark who raised $120 in pledges and Jim Dayes who raised $110. Free Press Staff Photo By MIKE JOHNSTON Free Press Staff Council should attem- pt a second try at get- ting the Region of Durham to pay its share of the installation of short arm gates at the railway crossing on Hopkins St., according to the town's operations committee. Members of the com- mittee said the Region initially turned down the request because there was some confusion whether or not Whitby was going to pass a by- law prohibiting train whistling in the area. In October of 1985, the. Town of Whitby met with officials from the Region of Durham and Canadian Pacifie Railway to discuss any specific requirements of the Canadian Transport Commission prior to the incorporation of an anti- train-whistling by-law. During.that meeting a railway official infor- med the tovwn that apart from the anti-whistling by-law, the crossing warrants the in- stallation of gates, and that these gates must be installed before any an- ti-whistling by-law is in- troduced. Since that meeting, the Town of Whitby has decided not to proceed with the anti-whistling by-law, but to continue its pursuit of short arm gates for the crossing. Whitby then made the Region aware of its in- tentions and what the Region's costs would be for the installation and future repairs of the gates. Hopkins St. is a Regional road and therefore the Region is obligated to pay part of the costs to install the gates. Under present fun- ding policy for railway crossings, the initial cost of the gates' in- stallation is paid 80 per- cent by a federal grant, 12½ percent by the Region and 71½ percent by the railway authority. As well, the region and the railway authority are to cover 50 percent each of the future maintenance costs. In dollars, the Regions share would be $8,500 for installation and $2,000 a year for future maintenance. After studying the in- tention of Whitby the Region informed coun- cil that there is no need for an anti-whistling by- law and therefore it will not contribute to the in- stallation of the gates. However, . as Coun- cillor Ross Batten said at the operations com- mittee meeting Monday night, "the whistling now has nothing to do with the situation at all and the Regional Works Department did not look at the reports clearly enough." But chairman of the Regional Works com- mittee and a member of the operations commit- tee, Gerry Emm, in- formed the committee members that the regional works commit- tee told the town "no" because the railway crossing is not a dangerous situation. To back up that statement, the regional works -committee noted that there have been no crossing related collisions since January, 1980. After the operations SEEPG. 22 Bike-a-thon I I