On her last visit, Wellington County councillor Lynda White spoke on the Fergusson Place 55-unit expansion plans.
On April 25, White informed councillors “The new building is going to be called Webster Place.”
She noted many years ago when she attended James McQueen Public School, history classes spoke of Webster and Fergusson as the founding fathers of Fergus.
Therefore White felt it appropriate to be able to honour both.
The 55-unit building is being constructed next to Fergusson Place in the north end of Fergus.
The project is part of the affordable housing program with a total cost of $13.8 million.
White noted the provincial and federal governments are contributing $8.04 million towards construction of the building.
White noted Wellington County is big on ensuring new projects are built ‘green.’
“We have a number of energy efficient strategies including a co-generation project which would have a six-year payback. This is in partnership with Centre Wellington Hydro,” she said.
She noted, “one thing we are making sure of in the new building is that each individual unit is air conditioned.”
Under the Affordable Housing program, tenants on average pay 80 per cent of the average market rent.
The target audience for the new building is 55 or older.
There are eight fully accessible units in the building.
White noted construction work has already started, with cleaning of the land.
White anticipates the new building will be completed by summer 2017.