By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
The C-K Community Hub project intended to create a new civic centre, library and museum in the old Sears building in downtown Chatham has taken a leap forward.
At its Oct. 21 meeting, council voted 11 to 5 to proceed to the next stage of creating the development. This includes contracting Architecturra Inc. for $2.1 million to complete the design, as well spending $105,839 to hire a project manager to oversee design and construction.
Yes votes came from councillors Conor Allin, Lauren Anderson, Brock McGregor, Michael Bondy, Anthony Ceccacci, Marjorie Crew, Ryan Doyle, Amy Finn, Aaron Hall, Melissa Harrigan and Mayor Darrin Canniff. Those opposed included Rhonda Jubenville, Morena McDonald, Alysson Storey, Trevor Thompson and John Wright. Councillors Carmen McGregor and Jamie McGrail were absent from the vote.
Two amendments to the original motion were introduced by Ceccacci. The first, which passed 14 to 2, directs administration to provide updated high-level costs for upgrading the existing civic centre, library and museum, to the same standards proposed for the new hub.
In the second approved in a 14 to 3 vote, staff is directed to incorporate a fixed-cost request for proposal once the designs are completed to ensure cost overruns don’t occur and allow council to determine the detailed project cost before it moves to the final phase.
Funds for the hub’s next phase will be drawn from the municipality’s Buildings Lifecycle Reserve.
Once complete, detailed designs for the hub must be approved by council before the RFP process.
