Kincardine Council will be establishing a resource group to decide how to use the 993 thousand dollar federal infrastructure grant to upgrade the Kincardine Arts Centre at the historic old town hall.
Heritage Kincardine strongly disagrees with local businessman Brian Walden’s idea to tear the old town hall down and build a new, modern arts centre on the same property.
Spokesperson Athina Gatos is concerned about the potential loss of community history and culture.
Committee member Jane Rigby hopes they can do the necessary work to restore the interior and exterior of the building, which she says the condition of isn’t as horrible as many people believe, but adds there is no reason a new theatre facility couldn’t be built somewhere else in town.
The grant application stated the municipality wanted to restore the exterior to its original appearance, which included a bell tower on the roof and windows facing Lake Huron, along with interior improvements to ventilation, plumbing, and washrooms.
Councillor Marsha Leggett wants the public to know what the full cost is to operate the town hall building presently, and how much of that is covered by revenue from the theatre and community groups that rent space in it.
Councillor Kenneth Craig says a frank discussion is needed on the future use and appearance of the building.
He hopes the right answer can be found through the resource group and a broad range of community input.
Representatives from Council, Heritage Kincardine, the Paddy Walker Heritage Centre, and the Business Improvement Area will be part of the group.
Councillor Ron Hewitt has volunteered to represent council.
Deputy Mayor Laura Haight says there are many people — herself included, in the community who think a new theatre is a good idea, but she doesn’t want to see the old town hall torn down to make that happen.
Haight says the resource group and new Community Plan process will decide what the future use will be for the building.
She says once that wraps up in October, council could still decide that renovating the facility isn’t the right thing to do, but right now they’re trying to decide how much work can be done with the nearly one-million dollar grant.
Haight says if the decision was made not to use the grant money on the old town hall building, the municipality would have to give it back because federal grants are handed out based on a specific project.