The paddling duck is taking flight: Public involvement ramping up for LYNC’s Mill Block Community

Members of the Love Your Neighbour Communities (LYNC) board of directors stand in front of a timeline detailing the former B-W Feed Mill’s more than a century of history in New Hamburg. The board members are also holding and standing under two wooden augers believed to have been used to mill flour on display with the timeline at the former Waterloo Regional Police station building next door to the mill. Pictured from left to right are LYNC executive director Boris Emmanuel, director of finance and event planning Paul Ming, board chair Steve Wagler, vice chair Lisa Doherty and secretary Glen Good. Photo by Galen Simmons

By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For nearly a year, the volunteers and community leaders behind an effort to redevelop a more-than-a-century-old mill in the heart of New Hamburg to address the local housing shortage have used the comparison of a paddling duck to describe their work behind the scenes.

While the duck is paddling madly under the water’s surface to propel itself forward, it appears calm and serene to those looking on from the shore.

Now however, that duck is getting ready to take flight as public involvement begins to ramp up for the Mill Block Community, a project that will celebrate the history of a mill that helped shape New Hamburg as we know it today while addressing the needs of residents now and into the future.

“Where we’re at, at this point, is we’re just about complete with our application to CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) for project funding,” said Love Your Neighbour Communities (LYNC) board secretary Glen Good. “But from a building-design perspective, getting ready to do the renovations and addition, our consulting team is basically paused at this point because we’d gone as far as we can. We have the design completed, we have the working drawings about 80 per cent completed, so we are in a position where we want to start some selective demolition inside the main building. There’s some steel bins that have to come out; once they’re removed, then our structural engineer can finalize floor designs and things like that.

“We are also working at refining our energy efficiency. We’re going for net-zero qualified, not certified, so we’re actually looking at ways of making that more economical that would fit into a funding model. It’s going to be a high-efficiency building, which is what the government is looking for when they’re giving out money – they want good buildings built. Nith Valley Construction has been secured and contracted as our construction manager, and we were happy to see that, … them being a local company. … So, they’re working with our consultant on the costing of the project.”

Having purchased the former B-W Feed Mill and then the former Waterloo Regional Police station property next door, plans are well underway for LYNC to convert and build an addition onto the historic mill building – built in 1905 to replace the original wooden mill on the property – into a 31-unit, mixed-housing apartment building with one, two and three-bedroom units, numerous outdoor and community spaces, and attainable and affordable housing for people of all income levels.

The idea is to create much-needed housing in a way that celebrates New Hamburg’s history going back to even before the town was founded, beautify and revitalize the town’s downtown core, and provide a space where community members from all socio-economic backgrounds can live, learn and play together.

But none of that is possible without community support. While the LYNC board has fielded questions over the last many months from community members about what is happening with the old mill and how they can help, the board finally has an answer for them with the launch of its capital fundraising campaign.

“You don’t get to the future unless you have a solid past behind you,” said LYNC executive director Boris Emmanuel. “One of the important links identified right from the start was our Seed to Feed campaign, which was to raise money to be able to purchase the mill and pay the soft costs of what it takes to get us to the point of construction. We’re extremely pleased that we’ve successfully done that; we’ve raised over $1 million just in this community in the last two years. Now, we’re beginning our capital campaign which is what is going to take us to the future and what is going to build the building. As we start the process of completing our application with CMHC and FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities), we’re again looking to our community to really step forward and be a big part of that capital campaign.”

The goal of the capital campaign, Emmanuel explained, is to make up an equity gap of roughly $6 million. To help achieve that goal, he said there are two local companies leading the charge in the hopes other local industries and businesses will similarly contribute to the cause.

“We have Josslin Insurance and we have Zehr Insurance who are two big companies here who have really stepped up to provide funding to start that base moving forward,” Emmanuel said. “We actually have our matching donor campaign that is out there right now that Josslin is heading up for us, and we really appreciate that, and what we’re hoping is to see other corporations come forward to match what they’re doing because that gets your dollars to go a little further. I know people get really excited about that, so we’re really excited about that.

“ … Josslin is celebrating 145 years in the community and they’ve given $1,000 for every year in the community. They’re asking the community to come forward to match that so, again, we can work together as a community.”

At some point soon, locals will likely notice a giant thermometer outside the mill that will track how much has come into this capital campaign and how far LYNC has to go to reach its goal.

The members of the LYNC board also acknowledged the support this project has received from the Township of Wilmot staff and council, including the township’s recent announcement it will exempt property taxes for affordable-housing developments like the Mill Block Community for 20 years.

To help build excitement around the campaign, LYNC will be participating in this Sunday’s Food & History Walking Tour with a timeline of events from the old mill’s history and a look to the future and how the mill will help address the most pressing modern issue, affordable and attainable housing. LYNC will also host and participate in several public events throughout the summer in support of its capital campaign, including one called Porch Concerts in the Berg, the details for which will be made available soon.

“What we are trying to focus on is the community; that we are trying to do these things not just to raise money for LYNC, but to get the community involved and to do something that’s exciting for the community that people can actually enjoy and be part of,” Emmanuel said.

“There will be community programming, a community kitchen and community space within the mill, so once again, the mill will be the centre of the community once it’s finished,” added LYNC vice chair Lisa Doherty.

For more information about and updates on the Mill Block Community, and to learn more about how to support the project, visit lyncommunities.com/communities/millblock-community