Grey County's next council is expected to make major decisions in 2027 on the future of the existing Rockwood Terrace property in Durham and a potential expansion of Grey Gables in Markdale.
The county has been working with Colliers Project Leaders to examine options for both properties, but council has opted to leave the final decisions until after this fall's municipal election.
Grey County CAO Randy Scherzer said the work underway now is intended to give the incoming council the financial and operational information it needs to make those decisions.
"The purpose of that work is to gather data and estimates so that the incoming council has good information to consider before making some of those important decisions about long-term impacts of services and the levy," Scherzer said.
A final report is expected to go before the new council early in 2027.
"We're still working through finalizing the details of the various options," Scherzer said. "There will be a final report that's presented to the incoming council early, probably in 2027, to be able to make decisions on both future use of Rockwood Terrace and the potential expansion of Grey Gables."
Grey Gables currently has 66 long-term care beds, while the province has allocated another 62 beds to Grey County for the Markdale home.
Scherzer said three scenarios are being examined.
One would involve constructing a new 128-bed long-term care home alongside the existing 66-bed facility. Another would add a 62-bed wing to the current home, bringing it to 128 beds.
The third option would leave Grey Gables at its existing 66 beds and return the 62-bed allocation to the province to be used elsewhere.
Grey County has held onto the allocation for several years while prioritizing construction of the new Rockwood Terrace in Durham.
The new Rockwood Terrace will increase capacity from 100 to 128 beds and is expected to welcome residents in the spring of 2027.
That move will also leave the existing Rockwood Terrace building vacant, creating a second major decision for the incoming council.
Scherzer said possible options include continued county use of the property, leasing it to another operator or selling it.
"In the meantime, we'll be maintaining the building," he said. "There'll be utility costs, we'll have probably some security costs and some existing insurance costs and just overall general maintenance costs for that building just to keep it going while it's still in a vacant state."
Scherzer said the county hopes that period will be short.
"We hope to not have it long in a vacant state," he said. "We want to look at what future uses could go in that building and we'll be having those discussions with council in 2027."
Council also recently declined to spend an additional $30,000 to have Colliers examine whether newly announced provincial renovation funding could create another option for the existing Rockwood Terrace.
Scherzer said the funding program was announced after consultants had already started their analysis and some of its details and alternative standards have yet to be finalized by the province.
Council ultimately decided the additional work was not necessary.
"They felt that based on the current options being analyzed that there will be sufficient information for the incoming council to make a decision on the future use of the existing Rockwood Terrace," Scherzer said.
Staff and Colliers will continue refining the options and costs through the remainder of this council term.
Scherzer said the goal is to have the information ready early next year, when the incoming council will also have a clearer picture of Grey County's overall budget position.
"The intent and the hope at this stage would be that the incoming council makes a decision in 2027 about what to do with the current Rockwood Terrace, as well as any potential expansion options with respect to Grey Gables," he said.
