Township council is keeping its options open as the municipality proceeds to tender for major renovations to the Maryborough Community Centre.
At a special meeting on June 6, council authorized staff to proceed to tender on a base project with a total value of $759,120, plus an additional $78,000 in optional items that could push the total cost as high as $837,120.
Staff was directed to design tender documents to allow council to choose between base and optional items once tenders are submitted.
In January the township learned it was successful in obtaining funding through the Ontario 150 Community Capital Grant Program for the hall in Moorefield.
The total project budget is $526,500 with $249,800 being funded by the Ontario 150 Community Capital Program and pending $10,000 being funded through the Wellington County Accessibility Grant Program.
The remainder, $266,700, is to be funded through the 2017 capital budget. The township retained VG Architects to undertake the design, tender and construction oversight of the renovations. As part of the design scope of work the architects were required to also undertake an assessment of the mechanical and electrical systems. That assessment resulted in a recommendation for an additional $85,000 worth of work on mechanical systems, plus $10,000 for electrical upgrades.
In addition, based on consultation with an informal focus group consisting of two council representatives, additional options worth a total of $78,000 were suggested for consideration, including:
– $50,000 to replace the iron railing between the upper and lower hall with a glass railing system;
– enlarging the outdoor patio area at a cost of $10,000;
– adding two new windows at the front of the lower hall for $12,000; and
– removing the entire stage and replacing it with storage for tables, chairs and equipment, at a cost of $6,000.
Public works director Sam Mattina pointed out that if the project goes ahead with all options, a debenture of $210,000 beyond what is currently budgeted for the project in 2017 would be required.
Mayor Neil Driscoll explained to about 25 members of the public in attendance that the presented plans represent a version of the project finalized after a May 30 public meeting on the proposed renovations.
Following a presentation on the hall design and costing, one member of the public called for a show of hands on some of the proposals. In response, a clear majority indicated they did not think the patio would be useful and were in favour of retaining the stage rather than converting it to storage.
The need to spend $12,000 on two windows was also questioned as the hall is generally rented out at night.
The majority of those present were also opposed to the idea of removing existing trophy cases from the hall.
Driscoll noted the suggestions were “honestly the comments we were looking for back on the 30th.”
Only six people attended a May 30 public meeting.
Another resident asked if council could put off some of the options for future budget years.
“As soon as we start taking things out of this project I don’t think they are going to get back in,” Driscoll responded. “We have a lot of things we need to get done in this municipality and I think they will lose priority very quickly.”
One man suggested lowering the cost of the patio by using a gravel, rather than concrete surface.
“We did talk about out flooring options at the open house and you’re probably in the same boat as me in that we’ve never worn heels,” quipped Driscoll.
“Another issue with keeping it as gravel is it defeats the issue of accessibility,” noted councillor Marlene Ottens.
She also pointed out the patio feature was included because of the popularity of outdoor weddings and events.
“We felt that Moorefield hall had this unique feature in that it’s surrounded by these beautiful woods, and why not take advantage of that rather than have it hidden behind a solid wall?” she explained.
“The idea was to provide options because people want different things, not your standard cookie cutter events,” Ottens continued. “We felt the patio was an option that Moorefield hall could offer that other halls could not.”
After council passed the resolution to proceed to tender Driscoll stated, “So for the record, the hall won’t be closed,” prompting applause from the gallery.
