The Citizen, 2013-05-30, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2013.Brussels ‘Rediscovering Canada’ debuted at galaOn Friday night the red carpet was
rolled out for the premiere of
Christopher Cooper’s Rediscovering
Canada episode featuring the Huron
East communities of Brussels and
Seaforth.
The gala event took place at the
Brussels Business and Cultural
Centre, formerly Brussels Public
School, and it was organized by
Huron East Economic Development
Officer Jan Hawley.
Dozens were in attendance to take
in the “ibroadcast” public internet
television broadcast, which went
live on www.ibitv.org on Monday
night and will remain live until 6
p.m. on June 3. A DVD of the
episode is available for purchase on
the website, and will also soon be
available at Huron East’s municipal
office in Seaforth.
The 22-minute episode featured
interviews with Brussels’ Paul
Nichol and Don McNeil, as well as
an extensive tour around McNeil’s
museum. The Seaforth portion of the
episode featured an interview with
Carolanne Doig of the Seaforth Golf
and Country Club.
While the evening was emceed by
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan, Hawley spoke at length
about the process behind bringing
Rediscovering Canada to Huron
East and the work behind the new
streetscape plan for Brussels, which
was also unveiled that night. The
entire 38-page document can be
viewed on The Citizen’s website at
www.northhuron.on.ca
The plan intends to introducegreen space to the village’s mainstreet by lining the street with trees,adding increased pedestrianwalkability, street furnishings and
formal parking throughout the main
street.
The plan also includes decorative
light standards, banners and
decorative crosswalk markings, all
which can be viewed in the full
report on The Citizen’s website.
Hawley started the night by
thanking her large group of
volunteers, as well as the members
of the Brussels Build group, saying
that she thought it was “pretty darn
special” that they could all pull off a
gala evening like Friday night’s.
As the event was held at the
Business and Cultural Centre, there
was also an opportunity for people
to tour the temporary location for the
Brussels Library, as the historic
Carnegie library undergoes
renovations this summer.
Hawley also touched on a Brussels
project that is in the works where a
mural would be painted on the side
of the Brussels Foodland building
facing the village’s main street.
While the details have yet to be
finalized, Hawley says she hopes
that the mural will celebrate the
history of the property, which is the
former site of the Queens Hotel.
MacLellan praised the work of
Hawley and the Brussels Build
group saying that it is often difficult
to have an entire community on the
same page, but they have managed
to do it in Brussels.
“You’ve really come together,”
MacLellan told the gathering of
people.
He said that when Huron East is
requesting economic development
grant money from Huron County,
it’s easy to use Brussels as an
example of an economic
development good news story.
The evening was rounded out with
a musical performance by the Hill
family of Brussels, a screening of the
Rediscovering Canada episode and a
historic film from the University of
Western Ontario featuring footage of
Brussels in the 1940s.
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Making their voices heard
The Hiller family performed on Friday at the Brussels Business and Cultural Centre as a
private screening of an episode of Rediscovering Canada featuring the communities of
Brussels and Seaforth was held there. The family was also featured in the episode. (Shawn
Loughlin photo)
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
Town hall renos costlier than expected
Continued from page 1
wondered about the timeline.
“If we decide to go with option C
and do the whole front project, do
we have the know-how to guarantee
this will be completed by the end of
the year, or the end of November?”
he asked. “We will have the weather
against us then.”
Dingman responded that is a good
question and stated that the tender
stated completion would need to
occur with 12 weeks and start 14
days after council approved the
project plan.
“Anything can happen, but
generally we’re getting the promise
that they will be done in three
months,” he said. “If we act quickly,
we’re going to be in good shape.
At this time, ordering [pre-
fabricated pieces] can be a problem,
but council should feel
comfortable with this getting done
this season.”
Dingman added that, since the
project called for restoring windows
and not replacing them, it would be
easier for the deadline to be met.
Bailey wondered why they were
restoring the windows versus
replacing them and what kind of life
expectancy the new windows would
carry.
“Putting in new windows would
be a budget challenge,” Dingman
explained. “My recommendation is
to restore. Some old windows may
have to be replaced when we get
underway but, generally, I believe
they are all in restorable condition.
The scaffolding method means that
all the windows, even those blocked
off from the inside on the second
floor, can be taken out from the
outside and put in from the outside.
That means no demolition in the
auditorium.”
He added that new windows
would require some demolition and
construction work which could not
only increase the price but add to the
length of the project.
Bailey suggested that, as the
windows not being replaced made
him nervous, council look at setting
aside the money and waiting to do
the project at a later date.
“I’d rather not waste the money,
I’d rather do it once in a lifetime,” he
said.
Councillor Archie MacGowan
said he understood Bailey’s
hesitation, but pointed out that they
may not receive grant money at a
later date.
“There’s no guarantee of
financing through grants at a later
date,” he said. “That’s the
conundrum we’re in right now.”
Newson pointed out that, from an
insulation standpoint, there are only
four windows on the front of the
building which haven’t been sealed
by the auditorium upstairs.
“From an energy management
stance, it shouldn’t be a problem,”
she said.
Dingman stated that repairing the
existing windows went along with a
“high heritage” approach,
something the municipality could be
proud of.
MacGowan said that, if money
wasn’t a concern, the would
obviously be the likely one to
employ, but that he didn’t know if it
was something he could support due
to the increased cost. He asked what
the cost of doing half the job now
and half the job at a later date would
constitute.
Newson explained that a large part
of the cost was the scaffolding.
While an exact price wasn’t
available from the lowest tender, it
was revealed, later in the meeting,
that original estimates had the price
of the scaffolding at $80,000 for the
tower and the front of the building,
approximately 22 per cent of the
total budgetted cost for the complete
work options.
“That’s a big cost to put off to
down the road,” Campbell said.
“That’s a hard expense to pay
twice.”
North Huron’s Director of
Finance, Donna White, when asked,
stated that the money could be found
to make the project feasible.
“Right now we’re taking $117,000
from the property fund which has
$177,000 in reserves. We could take
an additional $60,000 from there
and budget to replenish the fund
over the next few years, or you could
just use that reserve,” she said.
White later added, when asked,
that the money wasn’t earmarked for
a specific task and it would require
no extra budget work to address it.
Councillor Ray Hallahan asked
what the cost of simply removing
the bell tower so the work could be
done without the scaffolding,
however Dingman said that route
had many possible pitfalls.
“It could drastically alter the
building if there was trouble getting
it back up there and that would
affect the heritage appearance here,”
he said. “There is a dramatic
heritage impact having the two
towers on the sides of the road here
[referring to the tower on the
municipal building as well as the
museum across from it].”
He added that, restoring
something requires far less work
than removing and replacing it.
“Right now, it’s up there, there’s
no one questioning it or the
construction of it,” he said. “We’re
going to look at it, repair it if
necessary, and that will be the end of
it. Putting it back on, however, is
going to require a building permit
and engineering. Existing buildings
are a miracle that way, they can be
restored and left as they are, but
retrofitting or reconstructing them
causes issues. We may need to build
a new steel structure for the bell
tower if we try to put it back.”
Chief Administrator Gary Long
stated that council could also view
this as an expense spanning multiple
factors. The building is part of North
Huron’s branding, just as Memorial
Hall is in Blyth, and he said that
investing in it would not only be
investing in the municipal building
but it would also represent an
investment in North Huron’s
brand and Wingham’s downtown
core.
“Right now we have a bell tower
that is deteriorating, windows that
have seen better days and front
doors that look like crap,” he said.
“It reflects on us in an unfavourable
way. This is more than just
architectural preservation. It’s part
of our downtown revitalization and
part of our branding.”
Council discussed options for
setting up funds to preserve heritage
buildings but set nothing in stone.
They did pass a motion to begin with
the third option to see the entire
front of the township hall in
Wingham reconditioned.
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