City council has voted to approve a plan to install a new ice rink and water feature in front of Windsor City Hall.
In a recorded vote following a two-hour long debate at Monday's meeting, council voted 6-5 in favour of approving the over $15.4 million Windsor City Hall Square project, which would include an ice rink and water feature for use outside of the winter months.
The project received support from Ward 3 Councillor Renaldo Agostino, Ward 5 Councillor Ed Sleiman, Ward 8 Councillor Gary Kaschak, Ward 9 Councillor Kieran McKenzie, Ward 10 Councillor Jim Morrison, and Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who cast the deciding vote.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says this will be Windsor's new gathering place downtown.
"You're going to have the activity out here, and it's going to be animated; you'll have the music, proper washroom facilities, and the Zamboni facility; it will all be here closer to city hall. It's the start of the Civic Esplanade that council approved just last year, and this is the first step moving forward," he says.
The Civic Esplanade project calls for the redevelopment of an area from City Hall to Windsor's riverfront into more public spaces.
The overall price tag is over $6 million above the $9.3 million budget.
Money would be transferred from several other funds to address the budget shortfall, including the 2025 Canada Community-Building Fund, the Corporate Inflation Mitigation Budget, and the 2025 Tourism Infrastructure Development and Program Fund.
Dilkens says he gets that the dollars are high.
"Had this not been funded in a sensible way, I wouldn't have supported it either," he says. "But coming up with non-property tax revenue sources allows us to deliver on this project without having to go back to the property tax base and without having to cancel any other projects. We're still delivering on the full capital budget that council approved this year without going over."
The motion was opposed by Ward 1 Councillor Fred Francis, Ward 2 Councillor Fabio Costante, Ward 4 Councillor Mark McKenzie, Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac, and Ward 7 Councillor Angelo Marignani.
Gignac told council that she didn't like the idea of having to take what was in front of them or doing nothing.
"It's an absolutely amazing project, and I think it's beautiful. But the fact of the matter is that we have a lot of things on our horizon where we have seen the cost escalating at a rate that is just unreasonable to not be able to make some changes," she says.
Ward 4's Mark McKenzie says it's wants versus needs, and he heard from many residents who didn't want this to move forward at a $15 million price tag.
"My dad told me from a young age that, as we've all heard, money doesn't grow on trees; it has to come from somewhere and somebody's got to pay for this," he says. "Right now, I just can't support spending $15 million on this project."
In casting a vote against the motion, Councillor Marignani told council the idea of a public rink downtown is probably one of the most amazing things we can do.
"It's a fantastic idea, and I absolutely loved it when it first came to council, but it has switched," he says. "Councillor Gignac has brought up a very good point. Many of our residents have been reaching out and are mind-blown by these costs. For that reason, I will not be supporting this."
The additional spending will also cover the costs of a pavilion, a building to house the Zamboni, an ice-making refrigeration system, water feature equipment, storage, an office, and two public washrooms.
A decision by council to delay discussion on the project until the June 10 meeting will result in the project not being ready in time for the start of the winter skating season, but administration indicated that there is the potential for it to be finished sometime during the 2024–2025 winter skating season.