Questions raised on proceeding with downtown Chatham mall redevelopment proposal

An investor group’s decision to drop an arena-entertainment complex from its proposal to redevelop Chatham’s downtown mall has left some politicians questioning whether Chatham-Kent should get involved in the project.

A major part of Imagine Chatham-Kent’s proposal to rework the Downtown Chatham Center mall involves the potential to move city hall operations into a former Sears store from the municipality’s nearby building, the Chatham-Kent Civic Centre, which was built as Chatham’s city hall a generation ago before the city was amalgamated with Kent County.

According to an administrative report to council, the new proposal is similar to the original in its first-phase development, but a second-phase addition of an arena-entertainment complex now won’t go ahead because the investors plan to refurbish the rest of the mall.

But without an arena to anchor the redevelopment, some civic politicians are questioning why Chatham-Kent should buy into the proposed overhaul of the mall – a building roughly the same age as the municipality’s civic center – rather than renovate or build anew to meet civic needs .

“Honestly, I don’t know why we would want to spend that kind of money on a building that’s almost as old as the one we’re in,” said East Kent Coun. Steve Pinsonault.

He said the Imagine Chatham-Kent concept was kind of exciting when it included putting an arena in downtown Chatham.

“Now, this is basically buying an old building,” he said.

The civic center has been in need of a major renovation for years. A potential solution was seen when the Imagine Chatham-Kent proposal was announced in June 2022 by the Downtown Chatham Centre’s ownership group – Rob Myers, Pete and Jessica Tsirimbis, Ron Nydam, Don Tetrault and Jim Bullock. That proposal included moving city hall, along with the city museum and library into the mall’s former Sears building.

According to the report, the estimated cost to renovate the civic center and upgrade the Chatham library and Cultural Center would run between $38.7 million and $45.8 million.

It would cost an estimated $42.4 million to buy a portion of the mall and move those same operations there. Building a new civic center at a new site would cost $70 million to $80 million, according to the report.

Chatham County. Alysson Storey said the municipality should keep open to renovating and repairing, versus moving to a similar-vintage building potentially in the same condition.

“We do have a purpose-built, architecturally significant building that should be maintained and updated, which we haven’t been doing for many years,” she said.

Storey said while that past updating can’t be changed now, “we can look forward and figure out the best way this property can function effectively for generations to come.”

Pinsonneault agreed, saying “I think we’d be better served to stay where we are here.”

He suggested the municipality start looking for a site in south Chatham to build a new Fire Station No. 1, located in the rear of the civic center building, which would free up a lot of space.

Council is expected to receive a staff report Oct. 30 on the pros and cons of the options in the latest report, along with a summary of stakeholder and public consultation.

South Kent County. Anthony Ceccacci said one of the “main concerns” he’s hearing from residents is about the arena no longer being part of the project.

Given the municipality’s aging facilities, Ceccacci said the arena in the original plan is what sparked the most community interest. He also wants to know about the future of existing arenas, something a civic official said will be reported to the politicians.

“We will be reviewing all of our assets and that includes arenas,” in a management plan for assets that will go to council, said Rob Pollock, director of parks, fleet and facilities.

“I think it’s important to remember that we have very, very old infrastructure here and I look forward to reports seeing how we’re going to address that in the future,” Ceccacci said.

Storey said she’s “extremely thankful and grateful” for developers investing in Chatham, calling what they’ve done – especially in downtown Chatham – “game-changing.” Still, she said the public needs to be widely consulted and kept in the loop on how such decisions are made.

She also suggested consideration be given to exploring use of the mall property for housing, noting many mall owners in Southern Ontario, including in London, are rethinking uses for shopping centers that were built for retailing but are now branching out into other uses as well. In Chatham’s case, mixed uses could bring people downtown not just during weekday business hours but during evenings and weekends, as well, she said.

“I think this is a really timely opportunity to start from scratch and really plan process effectively in terms of making sure all the options are on the table,” Storey said.

— With files by Trevor Terfloth