From construction to the installation of new amenities to a series of public art projects, Chatham-Kent will begin to have a new look in 2023, Mayor Darrin Canniff is predicting.
“I’m very optimistic about the next four years,” Canniff said in an end-of-the-year interview.
Noting more than 1,300 building permits valued at more than $340 million were issued in 2022, Canniff said growth is being enjoyed across the region’s residential, commercial and industrial sectors.
Earlier in December, the Barry Callebut chocolate factory announced a further US$70 million investment at its Chatham plant, which will see nearly 300 people working there. That would bring the company’s total investment to US$100 million since 2018.
In September, Wisconsin-based United Industries Inc. announced it signed a 30-year lease for the former Woodbridge Foam building in Tilbury to open a state-of-the-art stainless steel tubing manufacturing facility. The plan is to have that facility open by mid-2023, beginning with about 100 employees.
Canniff said good news is also happening at the former Navistar truck assembly plant site on Richmond Street in Chatham – and things are shaping up for more to come.
“There’s a lot of interest in the site as far as industrial development,” the mayor said said, adding the 43-hectare property is a prime location that’s only minutes from Highway 401.
The site, being developed by entrepreneurs Rob Myers, Don Tetrault and Mike Vagi, already has a new building with a tenant while another building is under construction, Canniff added.
Canniff said the community improvement plan, approved in March 2020 to provide tax relief for investments in housing and commercial and industrial developments, is proving popular among developers.
More investment is also underway with nearly eight hectares sold in the Bloomfield Business Park and another two hectares sold in the Blenheim Business Park.
Myers and Tetrault, along with partners Ron Nydam, Jim Bullock, and Pete and Jessica Tsirimbis, are also poised to transform the look of downtown Chatham. In June, they unveiled a multi-million-dollar proposal to create a community hub that includes housing a new city hall, a public library branch, a museum and a cultural center under one roof at the former Sears store site as a first phase of the project. The second phase would see the Downtown Chatham Center add a 4,000-seat entertainment complex that includes an arena.
Last August, municipal council approved undertaking a “due diligence report” on the proposal before proceeding.
“This coming year, we will be making a decision on phase one and phase two of the proposal,” Canniff said.
If approved, the mayor anticipates construction on the community hub will begin some time in 2023.
The rebuilding of Wheatley after the downtown core was devastated by an August 2021 explosion remains another priority, the mayor said.
He said the provincial government, the municipality and the community will need to invest in Wheatley, which he predicts will come out better than before.
When it comes to growth, Canniff said planning is needed because it’s costly to expand utility infrastructure such as water and wastewater, natural gas and electricity.
“We can’t run infrastructure everywhere, so we have to focus on certain areas,” he said.
Canniff said a new master plan will be finished in 2023 that will look at rezoning areas based on where growth is expected to be.
“This is a plan for the future, so it’ll be some good insight at to where things are going to happen in the municipality.”
Canniff also envisions a beautification of Chatham-Kent that will begin in 2023 with such steps as council’s recently-approved public art policy.
The mayor said arts and culture is what “truly makes a community vibrant.”
Canniff also sees improvements coming through a sponsorship program that will cover everything from sponsoring an hour of ice time for free skates to renaming major infrastructure and will include initiatives for beautifying the community.
He said the municipality can’t do it all, so “we really want to work with businesses and individual that have passions in the community to do things” in the future.
Canniff said the new council that took office in mid-November has already accomplished much through the approval of the public art policy, a new bus terminal in Wallaceburg, a plan for outdoor rinks and new subdivisions in Wallaceburg and Chatham.
The mayor said the community can also expect to hear more news about an indoor tennis court and an outdoor ball hockey rink with boards, basketball courts and more pickelball courts.
“Ultimately, I would like to see in the next four years that we have everything that a larger city would have as far as recreation facilities.”
Canniff said these investments are important to attract and retain residents, making it more appealing for young people to return to the community to settle down to raise their families and build their careers.
An event the mayor is looking forward to this spring is the unveiling of a bronze statue of Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins, an exact replica of the one unveiled by the Chicago Cubs in front Wrigley Field last May.
“The Chicago Cubs made a big thing of it and we’re going to make a big thing of it here,” Canniff said.