By Ray Cousineau, Town of St. Marys
St. Marys council and town staff recently gave residents their first chance to see the renovations completed on the first floor of town hall ahead of council’s first meeting back in council chambers last week.
Council made the decision to improve the functionality of the first floor of town hall and renovations began in October 2023. The focus of the project was to enhance council chambers to accommodate larger meetings in addition to upgrading the washrooms and office spaces while ensuring compliance with AODA standards. The first floor of town hall had not been renovated since the early 1990s before the recent upgrades were completed.
To achieve the upgrades on the first floor, the washrooms were relocated to create a larger space and offices were divided to accommodate three unisex washrooms, an accessible washroom and an additional office. Council chambers was expanded by removing walls with a load-bearing wall replaced by a structural-steel beam supporting additional beams for the town-hall Auditorium and new HVAC units.
One goal of the project was to improve the audio-visual equipment used during council meetings. The upgraded setup consists of display monitors (TVs), microphones, desk monitors, cameras and a control system for video configuration and online broadcasting. The updated audio-visual equipment will support in-person, virtual and live-streamed meetings.
The renovation also included new paint, flooring, fixtures and furniture that were selected to accentuate the architectural elements of the historic building.
Given that the kitchenette was removed in the reorganization of the first floor, additional work was also completed to update the kitchen space on the basement level of town hall.
The project was officially completed in June 2024 and council chambers reopened its doors with an open house that allowed the public to explore the new space prior to the regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, July 23.
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