A report headed to city council in the new year will seek approval of a $20 million makeover of Windsor's Riverfront Festival Plaza.
Administration will present council three options, with option one, called the Dynamic Destination Design, being the most expensive.
Option A features four distinct zones, each tailored to support a variety of events and activities. Key features include green spaces and walking paths, two modern shade structures, two water features, a platform that can be used as a second stage, and the opportunity for an iconic centerpiece, such as a seasonal Christmas tree.
Option two, called Functional Elements has an estimated cost of $17 million, and would offer one water feature, with green spaces and walking paths.
The third option only includes green space and walking paths, costing $13 million.
Ward 1 councillor Councillor Fred Francis says the cost is too expensive and not a priority for him.
"We still have high unemployment, we're still looking at a high tax rate, the highest in a decade or so, we still have another number of infrastructure challenges that are existing infrastructure challenges to fix, so dumping $20 million into giving Festival Plaza a complete facelift is not a priority in my opinion, and I think a majority of Windsorites would agree with me."
He says we need to ask ourselves are people not going downtown because festival plaza looks the way it does?
"The answer is no," he said. "We have the best riverfront in the country, we have one of the best riverfront's in the whole of North America, that's certainly a draw to get people downtown. This is not a pressing issue. It's certainly not a need, it's a want. It's want and it's an expensive want, and there's too many expensive needs out there that we should be focusing on before we look at expensive wants."
Francis says the feedback he's heard from residents is that council needs to redirect their focus.
"Get the tax rate down, get the unemployment rate down, fix my roads, fix my sewers, make sure my parks are nice. Don't go focusing on these big ticket, either legacy projects or white elephant projects, whatever you want to call them, this is what they tell me, because our money could be focused in on better things."
Ward 3 councillor Renaldo Agostino says he's been working on the project for 15 years, even hosting events at the space long before he was a councillor.
"So I know what works there and what doesn't work there, and everything we do a city council is contentious, every penny we spend is contentious, it's the peoples money right? So this has come back from a prior discussion where I think if I remember correctly the cost had ballooned up to $60 million by having a giant canopy, all things that were really unnecessary for the plaza."
Agostino says if council doesn't go with option one, they're better off not doing it at all.
"Our riverfront is our crown jewel. It's part of what's going to make downtown revitalized and bring it back to where it should and could be, and to have more events down there, you're going to need to be able to facilitate those events by having the necessities that people need."
Windsor city council meets Monday Jan. 13.
-With files from AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg