Public involvement needed

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He said the arts community is well represented by the CKACN, drawing from all areas of the municipality.

“It’s the most diverse, broad based, wellversed committee, I’ve ever sat on,” Snyder said, noting the committee’s main concern with the current consultants is they “seem to have no background in culture.

“It’s a weak spot for them,” Snyder said.

“The CCC and theatre is a cultural hub. That seems to be getting lost in translation.”

According to White the theatre issue pertains to all of Chatham-Kent, not just Chatham proper, as members of Theatre Kent and the arts network itself hail from all corners of the municipality.

In an interview March 22, Mayor Darrin Canniff categorically denied that the CCC or the Kiwanis Theatre would be lost.

“As we proceed on, the Kiwanis Theatre stays the Kiwanis Theatre,” Canniff stressed. “I want to be emphatic about that. It’s an amazing asset for the arts and culture community. I want to see it thrive. “That’s the final word. Period.”

Preliminary plans for the $125-million Imagine CK project calls for the municipality to relocate civic operations to redesigned digs at the privately-owned DCC. The CKPL and CK Museum and TAG would also locate there, along with the construction of a large arena. The plan also includes the sale of the Chatham Civic Centre.

Covid, cold flu clinic closing April 1

As of April 1, the Chatham-Kent COVID, Cold and Flu Care Clinic (formally the Chatham-Kent COVID-19 Assessment Centre) will close its doors. The decision comes following a significant drop in the number of individuals accessing the clinic as

COVID-19 numbers continue to trend down.

“The Chatham-Kent COVID, Cold and Flu care clinic, also known as the Assessment Centre during early waves of the pandemic, has been a crucial tool for our community in the combat against COVID-19,” said Lori Marshall, president and CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, in a media release.

Since its inception, the C-K clinic provided more than 115,000 PCR tests, enhanced physician access to hundreds of residents of Chatham-Kent, and issued dozens of prescriptions for patients eligible for anti-viral treatment for COVID-19.