If there was a recurring question at Pearle Hospitality’s March 2 open house about the Elora Mill project it was not “should this project happen?” but rather “when is the mill opening?”
Though the number of residents walking through the doors of the Elora community hall seemed low early on, the auditorium quickly filled to capacity as residents viewed numerous illustrations and took in a presentation.
Pearle Hospitality’s Elora Mill project manager Brian Blackmere said the new illustrations and renderings “really tell the story regarding the makeup of the river side of the mill.
“Our commitment to the community was to complete the north side of the Elora Mill project first.” That includes the five buildings at/near the original Elora Mill.
Blackmere said there are two items yet to be addressed. One is the whether Wellington County will be participating in the tax incentive grant program.
“That is a political decision at the county … and is in the works. We hope that to be resolved over the next four to six weeks,” he said.
The other issue is the issuance of a heritage permit and a heritage conservation plan. Blackmere noted a heritage impact assessment submitted to and reviewed by the township is undergoing revisions and should come before Heritage Centre Wellington (the township’s committee) shortly.
Blackmere hopes at that meeting a recommendation would be made, which would be considered first by Centre Wellington’s committee of the whole, and then by council.
“If that whole process goes well, we could have the required heritage permit in our hands by the end of March,” Blackmere said, adding building permit plans are prepared and ready to be reviewed by the township.
Blackmere said if the process is smooth, permits for construction might be ready for early May or late April. He said the timing would be good because it would coincide with township’s infrastructure work required on nearby Price Street.
“We have some joint work we are doing to clean up the streetscape,” said Blackmere .
He estimated that if work north of the Grand River can begin by early May, “we would probably be doing an opening sometime in the latter part of 2017.”
He said that would leave a window of 16 to 18 months to restore/expand the buildings, and during the last leg of that construction, the glass bridge across the Grand River would be built. “That sets the stage for work to begin immediately to the south.”
Work on the south end will include construction of the condos first, plus restoration of the Walser Building and the Little Folks administrative building – “Those two buildings are deteriorating rapidly and we need to stabilize [them].”
Blackmere did not see considerable change from concept drawings presented in 2012 regarding the south end Elora Mill project, though “The look of the buildings is somewhat different.”
New renderings include the actual footprint of the Walser and Little Folks buildings and the hotel looks a bit different, Blackmere said.
“The condos are quite a bit different,” he added, noting originally the condos were five stories directly adjacent to the river.
Based on resident comments, the condos have now been stepped back with planned construction in a ‘U’ shape – which allow for scenic views from almost every room.
“The first building had a good view … and a bad view. Either you looked at the river, or you looked at Wellington County Road 7.
“I think this is good change. The rest of the concept is pretty much what we said we were going to do in terms of the retail space, banquet/event space, the reinstatement of the Walser Building as a chapel. It’s essentially what we set out in 2012.” The courtyard area covers underground parking at the facility. “In fact, the large swimming pool is also above the underground parking,” Blackmere said.
As to rock excavation required for the project, Blackmere said quite a bit was removed already for the adjacent water turbine project.
“The biggest question people are asking is about timing. We’re ready to rock and roll.”
