Chatsworth won’t be proceeding with a new multi-use community hub facility.
Township council decided in a split 3-2 vote against moving ahead with the project after reviewing two building options during its meeting Wednesday.
The plan was to complete the facility in two phases. The first would have cost between $10.9-million and $13.1-million and included a new community hall with a kitchen and bar area, as well as daycare space, a healthcare facility and a seniors’ activity room, according to a report to council.
A potential date to start construction for Phase 1 would have been 2030.
The second phase of the community hub building didn’t have a cost estimate yet, and would have been built out in future years. It would have added an ice surface, dressing rooms and indoor walking track.
But none of it will be happening after council’s decision.
Chatsworth Chief Administrative Officer Patty Sinnamon explains a dedicated one per cent annual increase to the tax levy to contribute to reserves was propopsed to help finance the project, which would have also relied on provincial and federal government grants, and community fundraising.
“Council felt that was too much for the rate payers to bear and didn’t feel that we could afford that,” says Sinnamon.
The site for a multi-use community hub facility in Chatsworth was selected in 2019. It’s a property where the former Chatsworth Arena was located, near the Highway 6/10 split in town. Designs were drawn up then but the project hit a snag in 2020, when an application for federal grant funding was denied.
Local committees have been working since then to try to advance the project. Some outdoor site beautification work’s been done, and a new pavilion was also built recently at the property.
“The fundraising committee and the building committee no doubt are extremely disappointed. They put a lot of work into this, but it is the decision of council to not move forward,” says Sinnamon.
