Update to council given on retrofit of former ACS building

By Ron Giofu

Upgrades to the Amherstburg Community Hub and former ACS building have been approved by town council.

Council approved a motion for upgrades at the Amherstburg Community Hub and the former Amherstburg Community Services (ACS) building 179 Victoria St. S., the latter for a senior centre. Up to $100,000 from the sale of property at 320 Richmond St. to Arch Corporation will be used for immediate use at the hub while $140,000 ($94,000 from parks reserve and $49,000 from a parks development charges reserve) will retrofit 179 Richmond St.

Council voted unanimously on the latter motion last Tuesday morning as part of their budget deliberations.

Councillor Peter Courtney said staff “did an amazing job” creating the report.

“This was well thought out, well-constructed, solves a lot of problems and puts a lot of good things in place,” said Courtney. “I want to give kudos to staff on this report. I think it serves us well. It takes care of some significant costs at the hub and takes care of the ACS building, which has been a priority for our Golden Age Club because we’re running out of space at the Libro Centre due to offices and stuff like that.”

Councillor Diane Pouget noted the costs to renovate 179 Victoria St. S. is estimated at $140,000 and asked about a comment in a report to reactivate the site in 2024. Deputy CAO/director of development services Melissa Osborne said crews would take about one year to complete the work.

Pouget added she attended the site with CAO Valerie Critchley and Councillor Molly Allaire and “we were told everything was in very good shape and that it would just take some face work like painting etc.” She questioned what the other work was.

Critchley said that tour was when the town was considering renting office space to the Ontario Clean WaterAgency (OCWA) and keeping a portion for seniors programming.

“That would have meant leaving the office spaces in place as they were and OCWA was going to take that side of the building to do what they needed to do to spiff them up for office use,” said Critchley.

Critchley added if it were to entirely be converted into a seniors facility, the interior walls would come down and flooring would be replaced.

“That is a very small amount for a retrofit of a building,” said Mayor Michael Prue.

Pouget said she wasn’t concerned so much with the cost, but the timing.

“People put up houses in three months. I just don’t understand,” she said.

Pouget added if the building could be rented out, with Osborne stating the building would become a community centre as well as a place for seniors to gather. Critchley said they would put the work out for tender, based on the procurement policy, and said they would “do it as quickly as possible” based on the selection of tradespeople.

Councillor Linden Crain asked if the Golden Age Club would pay for any of the retrofit work and if there were any user fees paid by the group. The CAO said the club would not pay for any retrofitting work and do not pay user fees at the moment. She said she’s understanding there was a seniors grant funding leveraged when the Libro Centre was built.

Osborne said a business model will be brought back on the building.

Pouget added the town could get grants for the Libro Centre because the Golden Age Club moved there. She said the club traditionally asked for a grant and were given an in lieu donation. The club also donated to the town and contributed “a significant amount of money” to the arena. Osborne said the report would explore options as rental rates, what assets are available for community use and all issues surrounding the building.

Courtney asked about washrooms for H. Murray Smith Centennial Park and tying it into the retrofits. Director of parks, facilities, recreation and culture Heidi Baillargeon said administration is looking at all options. Courtney also suggested looking at partnering with other groups to reduce costs with Critchley saying the new economic development officer would look at partnerships and sponsorships.

Critchley said there is a need to have a plan in terms of sponsorships and donations with Osborne stating a defensible plan will help provide guiding principles council can use when deciding on sponsorship opportunities.

Mayor Michael Prue said the parking lot at 179 Victoria St. “is in pretty sad shape” and Baillargeon said the parking lot would be repaired.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb. “I think it’s time to spend money on seniors. We’re spending a lot of money on youth but we know the seniors are our fastest growing demographic.”

Councillor Don McArthur said seniors will be able to use the 179 Victoria St. S. building, the hub across the street and eventually the long-term home.

“The opportunities for synergies there to take care of seniors and have robust programming are off the charts and unique to Amherstburg compared to other municipalities,” he said.

(Editor’s Note: This is a story from the budget deliberations held last week. While there was mention of this issue in the budget story in the March 1 River Town Times, we wanted to include the full discussion this week.)