Councillors appointed to Wellington Town Hall Expressions of Interest Working Group

UPDATE MARCH 12: Following much discussion about the pros and cons of public consultation before or following expressions of interest on the Wellington Town Hall, council Tuesday night agreed it will move forward with appointments to the working group and added positions for two members of the public.

The purpose of the group is to recommend to council the content and scope of an expression of interest related to the hall’s future use, with potential sale.

Its goals are to engage with the public and key stakeholders while they consider opportunities and constraints for the building – seeking its best use.

Wellington councillor Corey Engelsdorfer and Hillier councillor Chris Braney were appointed as council representatives. The group will also include two members of the public (with calls going out from Shire Hall soon); the director of recreation and community facilities, one staff member from the development services department and support from any other department as required.

Councillor Kate MacNaughton supported councillor Janice Maynard’s motion for a deferral to the third quarter of the year, to allow for public consultation, noting there should be lessons taken from the saga of the Picton Town Hall.

“It took many years. It was expensive and messy, and challenging – and beneficial. It was a beneficial process with, I think, a great outcome. But I wouldn’t want to repeat that if there’s a clearer and more honest, transparent way to go about doing this,” said MacNaughton.

The motion for deferral failed – 6-4 – with those opposed noting clear avenues for public consultation and no delay of the process.

Councillor Engelsdorfer agreed with moving forward with the expressions of interest “because we need the data before we can do anything. We will have public engagement, meetings and discussions on the future of the building with this data.”

Councillor Braney also added public engagement is imperative, but tangible information to give to the public is necessary. Some people, he said, are already confused, some to the point of thinking it will be torn down.

The building has not been declared surplus.

Wellington town hall fate could be up to ‘expressions of interest’ for sale

– Photos Municipality of Prince Edward County

By Sharon Harrison
FEB. 29: “Best possible revised use, through sale” was how the future of Wellington Town Hall was put in a report presented by the recreation and community facilities department to Thursday’s committee of the whole meeting. “The current recommendation for the Expression of Interest (EoI) would be to sell the building.”

Wellington councillor Corey Engelsdorfer didn’t disagree, where he described the hall as a “historic asset, not necessarily as a functional public use asset”.

“In my mind, it might be at the end of its life cycle as a town hall, and I think it needs to be re-purposed again, said Engelsdorfer. “It’s clear the building needs investment; my fear is, if we hold onto it, it’s just going to continue to crumble.”

“I think the greater good is best served by letting the private sector resource, with passion for heritage building, restore it to the jewel that it once was on Main Street,” he said.

In a 9-2 recorded vote (with councillors Kate MacNaughton and Janice Maynard opposed), council voted to go ahead with staff’s recommendation to proceed with the Wellington Town Hall Expression of Interest Working Group. Councillors Roberts, Hirsch and Braney were absent.

However, councillor Maynard did suggest she may pull it in two weeks time when the decision comes before council for ratification, with an amending motion.

In a summary of her report to council on the future of the hall, Lisa Lindsay, director of recreation and community facilities, indicated staff’s recommendation should include an expression of interest for sale, a decision she described as an “evidence-based recommendation”.

She said the intention of the working group is to have a collaborative approach with the community on what an EoI could look like to ensure the building gets the best possible revised use, through sale.

Lindsay also spoke to the lack of an asset management plan (AMP) for the County’s facilities.

“In a perfect world, we would be able to keep all of these assets, however, without an AMP being in place, there is currently no financial plan to maintain these buildings,” she said. “We have a lot of assets with very, very poor ratings and it is our job to bring forward options.”

Inside the Wellington Town Hall

Lindsay said it was not considered to be a reasonable exploration to come forward in 2025 with these very large capital plans, and in doing that, staff have taken in this particular building a look at its use.

“That use has been replaced by many other bookable spaces, and that’s why the recommendation for an EoI for sale has been brought forward,” she said.

Two deputations were received from members of the public, Jennifer Cobb and Joanna Green, along with a comment from Richard Elliott.

Cobb’s impassioned plea about the value to community of the hall, called specifically on Wellington councillor Engelsdorfer, to “protect and enhance the cultural heritage of Wellington, to return the town hall to community use as a gathering space for our residents, so that we can meet in the heart of our community”.

“Wellington town hall is a cultural and heritage asset which requires protection and enhancement,” Cobb said. “Beyond its mere dollar value of the building, or the cost of the maintenance and utilities, the town hall has historically been a central, accessible location in our community where locals and visitors meet, celebrate, enjoy recreation and build capacity.”

“We desperately need our town hall to continue to serve as a community gathering site for our recreation committee, for classes and dance, yoga, Pilates; for children`s programming, sound healing ceremonies, service club meetings, artists shows and sales, birthday parties,” said Cobb. “We’ve held community meetings and consultations there; this is where Santa comes every Christmas to meet the community, where on Canada Day our cake is served up and at Pumpkinfest the pancake breakfast takes place.”

Green, chair of the Wellington Community Association, urged council to hold a town hall about the town hall before any decisions were made about its future.

“We believe that it is critical there be proper, authentic, legitimate and sincere public consultation before any decisions are made about the fate of the Wellington town hall.”

Elliott, a Wellington resident, said he was in support of keeping the hall in community hands, public ownership and for community uses, and agreed with the idea of having a public consultation.

“I don’t agree if that recommendation is talking about moving to a sale process,” said Elliott, adding, “I’m not sure why this is, talking about a potentially draconian option of selling the property.”

He said if there is some near-term sorting out (such as best uses, etc.), he suggested renting it to someone for a year, or two or three years. “You don’t have to sell it: if you sell it, you permanently remove it from the community.”

Lindsay outlined some costs for fixes to the building in the short-term – including making it accessible which would include the installation of a ramp, widening two doorways and retrofitting the bathroom. The price tag for the work would be around $60,000.

She also spoke to other fixes amounting to approximately $300,000 estimated for the basement foundation and masonry work, to include an engineering report. However, Lindsay pointed out that because it is a heritage building, “if you don’t do anything, you have some forgiveness in the AOD act (The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act), but because we know there is significant work to be done (with the immediate repairs related to the foundation, the basement walls and the masonry work), she said the integrity of the building could be compromised.

While doing nothing on the accessibility work for the time being is acceptable under the Act, Lindsay further clarified that as soon as any renovation work starts on the building, the accessibility requirements must be carried out.

“When we look at the price of foundation, plus doing that, just to bring it up to a standard of today, we are talking several hundred thousand I believe, and that to me is very important,” said councillor Roy Pennell, who asked if it was reasonable to assume a community group may come up with the financial figures to bring it up to date and carry on.

“I’ve got serious concerns on the expenditures because we have many other buildings that are historical value; it’s a tough decision,” he said. “What’s it going to cost to bring the building to today’s standard?”

COA Marcia Wallace noted how the report speaks to two alternatives: one of keeping the building under municipal care with some renewed municipal uses (not recommended), or leasing the building to another use, given that the municipality will still be responsible for repairs (also not recommended).

“The report recommends we sell the building,” clarified Wallace, who explained the EoI process. “Instead of it just being on the highest bidder, it would be a process where you try to find a willing buyer that would also do the things you want.”

“The consultation we are proposing is not a wide consultation on the future of the building. It is a consultation on the scope of the EoI as to what seems realistic and possible to attract creative ideas to allow the right buyer to come forward.”

Councillor Phil St-Jean said, “it is not, and never will be, an easy decision to even consider disposition of a property. At some point, you have to face the reality, you have to do the homework, it’s time to move on, it really is.”

The Eol in this case is to find the best use for it, said St-Jean, “not just selling it to a developer or an investor, but for the public to bring forward a purchase offer that’s a benefit the community without having this extremely high cost to the municipality over the near-term and the long-term.”

Mayor Steve Ferguson spoke to the Wellington town hall’s prominent position on Main Street, its proximity to the park and to the lake, and its history and heritage.

It was originally built in 1882 to serve as a schoolhouse and became Wellington’s district town hall in the early 1900s.

“I think it has many years of use ahead of it,” said Ferguson. “That said, we are a community of very creative people, whose ideas should be heard about the possible uses and conversion of that building could be in light of the mandate for the working group.”

“I would hate to see it just sold arbitrarily, but I also recognize it is a huge expense,” Ferguson added.

“Do you think there is there a good possibility that a private enterprise might purchase that building, make it something that Wellington and the County as a whole is proud of, and maintains its longevity as one of our older assets in the County?” asked Pennell.

Councillor Maynard spoke to the very sobering news on the cost of the County’s buildings, especially its heritage buildings.

“Public consultation to at least allow the public to see if they can find a way of making the Wellington town hall a little more cost efficient,” said Maynard. “To take this one asset and single it out, my concern is, this one is the first one – almost none of them in a straight economic business model would be viable.”

“Is it Picton Town Hall next, is it the Athol Town Hall, is it the Ameliasburgh Town Hall, all of which you can’t make a business case for, but they have a place in the community,” she said. “All I am asking is that we allow for that public consultation to see if the residents can come up with an alternate proposal.”

“This is the first such disposition of an asset that we may be considering, and we really need to take care in the approach because it may be used elsewhere for other assets,” added Ferguson.

“The EoI will allow the public to step forward and “maybe they may come up with a plan, but that must include the option to buy it from the municipality,” said St-Jean.

Engelsdorfer said, “We need to stop equating that things that used to happen in the village with the hall; the community’s changing, we need to recognize that”.

“If we hold onto the town hall, we still don’t have the money to invest in it, so it’s going to sit there and be dark, probably most of the time, and it’s going to crumble away, and we are going to be left with an asset that’s really worth northing to us at that point.”