CORNWALL - The town is moving ahead with plans to replace the aging 40-year-old Cornwall Civic Centre.
Council held its annual public monthly meeting Wednesday night and although there wasn't a resolution to vote on per se, the topic was raised.
Mayor Patrick MacFadyen said engineering firm CBCL has come back to the town with drawings and those drawings have now been passed on to the four user groups for approval - 50-plus, Lions' Club, curling club and the town itself.
"Council looked at it and made a couple of changes,'' MacFadyen said. "It's just sort of a conceptual drawing and now it's going to the main user groups of the facility to take a look and get their input.''
The centre, located at 29 Cornwall Rd., is also home to the town's curling club, which is about 28 years old.
Problems with the current Civic Centre are numerous. The roof leaks. There are concerns about mold and mildew. The rooms are too small. The building lacks kitchen facilities and the curling club does not have adequate space for spectators to host bonspiels and banquets.
During a public meeting last October, the majority of residents at the meeting appeared to support the idea of constructing a new building.
The town was looking at three options - tear down the existing structure and rebuild, add on to what's there now or renovate. It appears adding on will be the choice.
Council is concerned that tearing everything down and rebuilding would be too expensive.
"The plan we are bringing forward is to build a new addition on the south end to the Civic Centre,'' MacFadyen said, explaining that it would be attached on the opposite side of the structure to where the current entrance is.
The town has been approved for $2 million in funding through the Build Canada Fund. Those funds are cost-shared by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. That means Cornwall's portion of the bill would be about $660,000.
Deputy Mayor Charles Easter cautioned council about the price tag Wednesday night.
"I want to make sure what is being proposed is within the budget,'' Easter said. "I understand our target was $2 million.''
There will be additional costs.
MacFadyen said the actual curling rink (ice surface) needs some work.
"It is in better shape (than the Civic Centre). The roof needs a little bit of work and the compressor ... the ice plant is gone and we need to buy a new one.''
The mayor said the town doesn't have quotes on anything yet but figures it will run in the ballpark of $25,000.
MacFadyen said whatever council decides, work will likely begin next year.
Cornwall moves on plan to replace town's Civic Centre
Cornwall moves on plan to replace town's Civic Centre
- Number of views : 172
- Rate
- Top of the page
Comments
-
- G
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:34:30
@Craig . I think you need to check your sources, have you been to CARI Centre at UPEI? Pretty sure its in Charlottetown, and has two rinks, like Pownal, and Summerside. But yes, a second rink at the APM Centre would be a good idea.
-
- Craig
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:33:34
Come on guys do it right..........add onto the apm centre....put in whats needed for curling and then add an additional ice surface for hockey.......you host a tournament out of apm and your useing rinks in borden and rustico.....come on take a lead here folks.......pownal is doing it, summerside...basically every municipality has done it right except for Ch'town....don't make that mistake!
-
- Scott
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:32:29
... annual public monthly meeting ...
C'mon Guardian. Are these meetings ANNUAL or MONTHLY?
I'm no graduate student, but I know enough to use Spell Check and still proof-read my work. -
- Hugh
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:29:37
I agree.....the Curling rink should be built onto the APM Center......but why does Cornwall need another hockey ice serface.......there are too many ice serfaces in the Ch'town area already.
-
- Hilltop Drive
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:05:22
The heck with a curling club....what about the traffic problems we are going to encounter when this new sports facility is added onto the existing soccer/football fields. We need lights or something to slow people down on the highway, and we need to cut of access onto hilltop from this new sports facility, too many kids in this subdivision...and too many safety concerns.....there are bigger problems Cornwall should be looking at other then a curling rink.
-
- Derek
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:05:03
Craig is missing two important details - the Town does not own the APM Centre, and the curling club has a usable curling ice surface that does not need to be thrown away. The possible need for an extra hockey ice pad is a separate issue that should be dealt with through Communities 13 Inc. I understand that the APM Centre, unlike many sports complexes, is breaking even, and the North River hockey association also uses ice at the nearby facility in Crapaud, and may be helping their financial viability, too.
