The Town of South Bruce Peninsula will use the extra 10,000 square feet in its new Town Hall for other governmental services, despite feedback calling for the space to be used for recreation.
The Town purchased the former Wiarton Foodland, to serve as the location for its new town hall last year. Staff said it was a unique opportunity, with a larger location than the current Town Hall ideally situated in downtown Wiarton. However, the former store offers more space than needed for Town staff.
After council approved the new Town Hall designs in principle in February, staff sent out a survey asking how residents would want to see the additional vacant space used.
There were 158 responses to the survey, 146 of which came from people who listed that they are a resident of South Bruce Peninsula. Respondents ranked the potential uses in order of preference and a recreational space was the most preferred.
However, staff noted there were limitations to what recreation opportunities they could offer if they built a gymnasium in the new Town Hall due to the height of the ceiling being only 17 feet, eliminating options like volleyball and basketball.
Councillor Kathy Durst requested that staff bring back a report on other possible site locations for a gymnasium this fall so it can be part of next year's budget discussions.
"So that we can get whatever costs are going to be in design or further work on that project, can be included in the 2026 budget deliberations," she said. "I just do want to send a message to the public that this isn't just going to go into the Ether world and it is part of our commitment to actually respond to other Master Plans as well as this survey."
Council approved Durst's motion to bring that report back, as well as the recommendation from staff to utilize the vacant space for "government services."
As part of that motion, only the exterior walls of the vacant space will be constructed to start, with any development of the interior space to be sorted out with a potential future tenant.
"What we're really looking for is any services that are public-facing that would be a benefit to the community, and we can see how we would make that fit," CAO Bill Jones told council. "Even if it's as simple as bus stop location, that's something we want to integrate into this facility."
Examples provided included the relocation of the Bruce County Library, alongside other potential federal, provincial, County services.