The new town hall project in South Bruce Peninsula is quietly moving along.
Back in February, the Town announced it had purchased the former Sobeys Foodland on the edge of Wiarton’s Bluewater Park for a new council chambers and potential community services hub. It’s a 1.7 acre property, with a 26,800 square foot former grocery store.
They made that choice because it was already a fully serviced location with a steel framed structure, and a less expensive option. The early estimate is about $6.5 million for the proposed Town Hall part of the project, and then roughly $2.4 if they were to add other government space and the library. For comparison, a previously proposed new town hall and community hub on Jenny Street would have cost about $31 million.
The Town says design work is well underway, and they expect to have draft plans in November or December.
In an email response to Bayshore Broadcasting News, the Town says the plan is to proceed to tender and hopefully construction on the town hall portion of the building (about half of the overall structure) at some point in 2025.
No decision has been made yet on what will occupy the remainder of the building, they say council will consider how best to seek input on that portion at a later date.
So far, the Town says there have been no surprises as design work proceeds, and there are no new estimates to share.
They say, once more detailed project estimates and timelines are available, Staff will provide Council with funding options for the project.
