Councillors agree that Huntsville needs new Council Chambers — during some meetings the gallery is packed to the rafters, and while the room meets the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act it is not as accessible as it could be. What those new chambers should look like and where they should be located, however, was a point of contention at the October 25 General Committee meeting.
A report presented by the Council Chambers Working Group, which formed in September of 2016 to look at available options, recommended that committee approve “the relocation of the Council Chambers from the 3rd floor to the Main Street level upon the end of the current agreement with Club 55 on June 30, 2019.”
In a deputation at that meeting, members of the Club 55 board of directors voiced their opposition, noting the need for the club to remain in a central, accessible location for its 250 members. “It would be wrong to evict Club 55,” said Bryan MacKenzie. “It provides a valuable resource to the elderly in this community.” Club 55 has served the Huntsville community for 60 years and moved to the basement of Town Hall in 1965.
Other options that the working group considered were the Canada Summit Centre, deemed unsuitable because it was “designed for recreation purposes and the level of displacement would be too great”; the Waterloo Summit Centre for the Environment, which was eliminated due to a pending RFP that has since resulted in an offer of purchase; and the Algonquin Theatre, which the group noted is both too large and focused on generating revenue.
The working group also considered building an addition on the back of the Civic Centre, and renovating the existing Council Chambers to make it more accessible. It noted that its recommended option, Club 55, could also be expanded upon to remove the front Town Hall steps, reface the front and extend the room closer to the Main Street sidewalk to provide maximum space, but it was likely not a financially feasible option right now.
The report — which was submitted by Councillor Jason FitzGerald, Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano, Councillor Jonathan Wiebe, Crystal Best-Sararas, Deputy Clerk, Tanya Calleja, Municipal Clerk, Pete Kingshott, Facilities Manager, and Chris Nagy, Chief Building Official — also noted a strong desire to maintain the Town’s administrative offices and the Council Chambers together in the downtown core.
“The question comes down to whether Council believes we need a larger more accessible space, and as a municipal building should municipal use be the first consideration?” said Deputy Mayor Terziano. “And I say that without any disrespect to Club 55.”
Mayor Scott Aitchison made an impassioned argument for new Council Chambers that reflect the importance of the work that occurs there.
“I’ve always believed that this chamber and the discussions that happen here should be as open and transparent as possible. We have seen a lot more delegations, we have invited a lot more people to come and speak to council. I fundamentally believe that that’s why we are here,” he said. “I struggle with this notion of using the Club 55 space for our Council Chambers. I don’t think it adds enough space and I think that there’s lots of limitations with it.”
While I appreciate the work that the committee has done, I think they’ve come up with the cheapest option and I don’t think that’s necessarily the best thing for the people’s place… I hoped we would all dream of loftier dreams and goals for what that public place, the people’s chambers, would look like. I think we can do better, I know it will cost more money but if we start planning now we can afford to do it and I think we owe it to the people of Huntsville to make their chambers an open, welcoming place where they feel they are always welcome to come and engage their council.
Mayor Scott Aitchison
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe had a different take. “To a certain extent I do agree, but part of me also feels that at a fundamental level to create a lofty and large space that’s very dignified, it’s a double-edged sword. The grander the room, the more intimidating I find it is for the general public. I know we want it to be welcoming, but I would hate to think we create a space that is intimidating to the average citizen and they do feel that they are not as welcome. It can have the reverse effect.” He also said that if the Club 55 space was deemed the most suitable place, “we would have to do everything possible to find a home for Club 55 that’s suitable and if that means supplementing some of the rent costs, I would be absolutely in favour.”
Being on the (working group), I felt yes it’s the people’s chamber but it’s also the people’s money paying for it.
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe
But Aitchison said that Council Chambers aren’t “just another meeting room and that’s why I think it’s important… I think spending a couple hundred thousand dollars to renovate a space downstairs to have a little bit more room is too shortsighted. This town is going to continue to grow and I think in 10 years, we’ll go ‘geez, this space is too small.’ I think we’ve got to be thinking a bit longer term. How people feel and how intimidated they feel in the chamber has a lot more to do with the people sitting around this table than how high the ceilings are or how nice the furniture is.”
He added Town Hall was a controversial project when it was built, and that there was an election lost over it, “and yet there isn’t a soul in town who would look at town hall and say what a shame they built that place because it’s one of the signature places of our downtown core… It’s always controversial when you spend taxpayer dollars on municipal facilities.”
Councillor Nancy Alcock suggested that committee needs to spend more time looking at the option of a new space. “I wouldn’t want to mirror (District Council Chambers) because it’s intimidating and not a place that encourages debate and that’s exactly what you want to do… I’m not sure that we need to move Club 55. It seems like we could make it work but to do that we’d still spend a fair amount of money, and it wouldn’t achieve all things we want to do long term.”
Councillor Det Schumacher said that committee should be thinking outside the box to make an expansion work “to make a building that is accessible for next 40 or 50 years… Let’s not shortchange it due to money.”
But Deputy Mayor Terziano noted that an addition to the back of the building would be expensive and would likely not create a space larger than what’s available at Club 55. “I’m happy now to go back and revisit (options) because we’ve heard from the rest of council.”
Councillor Dan Armour said he’d like to “see hard numbers on costs to be sure we are making the right decisions.”
Drawings for the project have been created in-house. Chief Building Official Chris Nagy said that to build an addition, “we would need to get an engineer involved, however an architect is a good place to start for preliminary sketches and a budget estimate.”
A Council Chambers renovation reserve fund was established in 2017 with an annual funding amount of $20,000 to begin preparing for a future project.
Aitchison suggested that the report be tabled to give committee time to gather more information, “talk with other people in community that have been involved in this kind of process before, get ideas on how to proceed, and if we need to reestablish the working group.”
Read the full report here (PDF) and see the drawings here (PDF).
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here.
Right on. Most of the present council were there when the supposed senior center became the active living center. The Centennial s Seniors gave $5000.00 to the Town for the use of the facilities, plus gave donations to the library, Salvation Army, Hospital and other organizations . How much revenue do they get now for the limited use it receives?
The Mayor, and the few councillors who support his position, have many good points to make, and the rest of the council should listen. We are not a bunch of country bumpkins who would be overawed by a council chamber fitting to the status of the town, Moving to Club 55 would be a bad, and temporary, idea. Not to mention the loss of seniors’ votes ( more than just the 250 members of the club). You got rid of the Centennial Seniors, do you want to do the same for Club 55? And after 50 years in the same place!