Windsor's $7-million Celestial Beacon project is moving forward.
After more than three hours of debate Monday, the majority of council voted in favour of the riverfront project at the foot of Askin Ave which will be the home for the restored Street Car 351.
Councillor Fabio Costante believes the finished product will become a destination for both residents and those visiting the city.
He says council also agreed to his call for a reduction in the size of the project.
"Reduce the square footage approximately 25% of what was contemplated and it was in the spirit of really scaling it down a bit because one of the biggest concerns that I've heard from residents was the size of the celestial beacon and its footprint on the park land."
Costante says residents will be happy to know the budget for the project will not impact any other city work.
"The funding is very prescribed. Some of it came from federal gas tax money, some of it came from the Central Riverfront Implementation Plan Fund. So this is not generally funding that would come from other services like sewers and roads. This is not going to impede or at all affect any other projects."
Windsor city councillor Fabio Costante on May 6, 2019 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
He says some residents had concerns about the project, but most have been addressed.
"A great amount of questions around the project, the details, the process and I think there's been a lot of common ground that's been shared on this project. It's not going to be perfect and there's going to be some for sure that are not going to be satisfied, but I think a lot of people are going to be very satisfied with the end result."
Councillors Fred Francis and Jo-Anne Gignac voted against the project.
Francis says he likes the idea, but he's not comfortable with the timing.
"We still don't know what the impact on our finances are as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. So it's hard for me to take on potentially a $7-million capital expenditure without having the full facts in front on me of how big of a hit COVID was financially to the city."
He says, in this time of uncertainty, spending big bucks may not be the best idea.
"I know I've talked to a lot of residents, I've talked to a lot of friends and really everyone is really anxious and feeling uncertain. The city is in the same boat and as an elected representative I feel I have to act responsibly, especially when it comes to spending people's money."
Windsor councillor Fred Francis seen on January 27, 2020 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
Francis says the whole thing could have easily been put off a year or two.
"We have the trolley. It's refurbished. It's sitting in a safe spot. I don't understand why the rush or why the need to move on this right now especially since we're going through a global pandemic right now and we don't even know what the full ramifications are on that financially yet."
The city is able to apply for $3-million in grant help through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund to help offset the cost.
Construction on the Celestial Beacon project is expected to begin in the spring of 2021.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi