Is Tillsonburg closer to a new town hall?

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tillsonburg may be closer to seeing the design of a new town hall after the last council meeting.

At the Dec. 8 meeting, council discussed an item titled “Tillsonburg Customer Service Centre Design Building Renovation” in closed session. The related outcome was council to “direct staff to report back in open session at a future meeting with a comprehensive report including detailed costing and the proposed design for a Customer Service Centre Design-Build renovation.” Two criteria of the Ontario Municipal Act, likely related to negotiations (one of the criteria is broader), were cited as the reason for discussion in closed session.

Council had previously approved a design for the site at 10 Lisgar Ave that would demolish the existing building, but then reconsidered the action to explore alternate sites for a new town hall. A location on Harvey Street owned by the town was also a contender. The former Peavey Mart location was considered, also in closed session at a previous meeting, but that option appears to have been abandoned.

Cost of the options ranged from $10.9 million to $12.4 million for a new build on Lisgar to a range of $7.4 million to $11.4 million on Harvey Street. These estimates did not examine the costs of renovating the existing 10 Lisgar Ave. structure.

At the Dec. 8 meeting in closed session, council also considered “Offer to Purchase – Portion of Ground Lease Lands (Harvey)”. If that discussion was about the town purchasing additional land on Harvey Street or selling the existing parcel, wasn’t made public.

Council also previously passed a motion that construction of the town hall couldn’t start until 50 per cent of the costs were in place from the sale of existing assets.

The creation of a town hall reserve was also approved at the Dec. 8 meeting. Previously, funds for the construction were earmarked in separate reserves. The reserve will already have $2.55 million in it. The majority of this, $1.7 million, is from the sale of 25 Maple Lane. The remainder is savings from the rent at the present locations as compared to what was paid in the Tillsonburg Town Centre, and a capital item coming in under budget.