A large crowd was on hand Wednesday evening for an open house to present details on the proposed downtown Chatham community hub.
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One hour into the event, held at the John D. Bradley Convention Center, more than 200 people already had come through the doors.
The proposal would involve moving the Civic Centre, Chatham library and Chatham-Kent Museum to a portion of the Downtown Chatham Center mall.
Residents had a chance to see the first architectural renderings and proposed floor plans, learn more about the collaboration with stakeholders, and get the latest on progress to date.
Edward Soldo, Chatham-Kent’s general manager of infrastructure and engineering, said the aim was to present the information, as well as solicited feedback.
“There’s obviously people who have different opinions,” he said.
Soldo said it would be a modern, integrated community hub, noting other jurisdictions have pursued the idea.
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The proposed hub is a multi-year project, now in its second phase.
Phase 1 was completed last fall when council authorized purchase of the former Sears portion of the mall. The current phase established the stakeholder engagement group and created detailed concept designs.
At the end of Phase 2, the project will come before council, with an updated cost estimate, for a decision on whether to continue.
If approved, Phase 3 would involve finalizing the designs, tendering costs, construction procurement and, if those are given the go-ahead, starting construction.
Soldo expects the next report to council will come in October.
Some residents were intrigued with the proposal, but wanted further details, including costs when compared to renovating existing municipal buildings.
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“It seems to be a pretty concept,” Dave Macko said. “(There’s) the impact on our taxes, of course … I think we need more information, for sure.”
The community hub has had its share of critics, with some concerned about what the dollar figure will be, and others believing the building should have another use.
“Why not turn this area into affordable housing?” Marlee Robinson said.
Jim Martin said “now is definitely not the time” to be entertaining such proposals.
“We are looking at horrendous rate increases and it’s going to hurt people,” he said.
Taking a look at the concept designs, Bridget Blonde said she was remaining open-minded.
“I like the idea overall, if it saves money and rejuvenates the downtown core,” she said.
For those unable to attend Wednesday’s event, all information will be available on the Chatham-Kent Community Hub Let’s Talk page.
A new community survey has also been launched and will run until Aug. 7 on the Let’s Talk platform.
For more information, visit letstalkchatham-kent.ca/community-hub
This story will be updated.
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